Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, based in Toronto, is internationally known for the firm’s rigorous and engaging design, sensitivity to site, and understanding of context. The Muskoka Boathouse is a clear statement of the firm’s mastering of the complex issues of site, function, nature, and history. Built in 1999, the Muskoka Boathouse is a contemporary and sophisticated expression of a vernacular building type commonly found in the wilderness of Lake Muskoka in Ontario.

Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe studied architecture at the University of Waterloo, graduating in 1983, and collaborated on several projects before establishing their practice in Toronto in 1994. By choice, they maintain an office and a practice at a scale that permits control of the entire architectural process, including interior design and landscape.

In 2001 Shim-Sutcliffe made a first substantial gift of drawings and models to the CCA related to eight projects in Ontario designed between 1988 and 1999. Projects include five residences, two additions and renovation projects, and the design of a garden pavilion and reflecting pool for a private residence. Between 2002 and 2006 prototypes of furniture and design details, sketches, drawings and models for a variety of projects, including residences, a park, a dining hall, an art gallery and a competition submission, entered the CCA Collection.

An open archive that continues to grow, the Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Archive now comprises some 6,400 sketches and drawings, 61 study and presentation models, and other documentation material.

The Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Archive is part of a research collection of nearly 145 archival fonds from Canadian architects who worked in Canada and elsewhere, primarily in the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century. Among others, the collection includes the archives of ARCOP, Wells Coates, Ernest Cormier, André Blouin, Humphrey Carver, Roger D’Astous, Arthur Erickson, Gérin-Lajoie, Richard Henriquez, Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg, Lahaie-Ouellet, Phyllis Lambert, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, John C. Parkin, Jacques Rousseau, Saucier + Perrotte, and van Ginkel Associates.