Building Toronto's Skyline with Nick Ainis

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Jeff Cogliati, founder of Blood Architects.Bloom Architects is a next-generation architectural practice rooted in the belief that great design has the power to transform lives, communities, and the future of our planet. Our mission is to reimagine the built environment through a fusion of timeless architectural principles and cutting-edge technologies, creating spaces that are not only beautiful and functional - but deeply human.They are a tech-native design firm committed to leveraging advanced AI-driven tools, parametric modeling, digital twins, and environmental simulation to elevate every phase of the design process. From conceptual site planning to construction detailing, our work is informed by data, optimized for sustainability, and inspired by the promise of a more connected, resilient world.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Christian Huggett, Managing Director, Head of Development at Podium Developments.Christian is their leader in all things Design; he steers them through site acquisition to project stabilization, development and design trends, site and building layout, municipal approvals, sales and marketing, and leads their development management team as a member of Podium’s executive team.

Recorded live in front of a big and boisterous audience at Viale, Nick Ainis chats with Brad Bradford about affordable housing, the missing middle and why he wants to be the next mayor of Toronto.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Marlon Bray, a chartered quantity surveyor by trade who has almost 30 years of experience in the Construction and Development field. His expertise encompasses countless sectors of the industry from high-rise residential, through Universities & Colleges, highways, and large-scale transit. Over his career, Marlon has been involved in more than 7,000 projects, with the past number of years more focused on residential, office and industrial. Both the typology and scale are vast array from small $100K renovations to $35B master plan projects, with a handful of $1B+ mixed use developments thrown in for good measure.

On this spirited episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Darius Saplys, VP of Operations/Director, API Consultants & Saplys Architects. They chat, they spar, they love... do not miss this battle of the giants.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Oliver David Krieg, President at Intelligent City. OD is an expert in mass timber construction and industrialized manufacturing in the AEC industry. With a PhD in robotics and parametric design, OD serves as the President of Intelligent City, leading the company’s strategic vision and execution. Under his leadership, Intelligent City is scaling its mass timber product platform for high-rise multi-family housing.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Paul Frith, President, Ontario Geothermal Association & JPF Consulting about the benefits of low carbon and energy efficient technologies.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Bob Blazevski, President & CEO, BlazeUrban, about his insight from over three decades in GTA real estate development.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Sherry Larjani, President at Spotlight Developments Inc. Sherry had worked with two Toronto architectural firms when she realized she wanted to bring her designs to life and get into the development side of the industry. The rest is history.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis leaves the GTA and speaks with Gabrielle Bonneville from Bonneville Industries, a 4th-generation family business and one of Canada's leading manufacturers of pre-built homes.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Derek Goring, Chief Executive Officer of Northcrest Developments, about his 20+ years of experience in large scale mixed-use real estate development.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis speaks with Member of Parliament Jennifer McKelvie who is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure. Nick and Jennifer discuss the Liberal housing plan that promises to create Build Canada Homes (BCH) to get the federal government back into the business of home building, by:acting as a developer to build affordable housing at scale, including on public lands.catalyzing the housing industry by providing over $25 billion in financing to innovative prefabricated home builders in Canada, including those using Canadian technologies and resources like mass timber and softwood lumber, to build faster, smarter, more affordably, and more sustainably.providing $10 billion in low-cost financing and capital to affordable home builders.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Adrian Dyer, Chief Design Officer at Design for Happiness, about his architectural journey that took him from London, Ontario, to London, England, and back again.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Les Klein, a Principal and co-founder of Quadrangle Architects in Toronto. He is committed to the idea that urban design, city building, and architectural excellence all play vital roles in enhancing the quality of community life.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis speaks with Brian Dorr, the founder of Dorr Capital, a commercial real estate financing company. Facilitating over $3 Billion dollars in loan servicing, Dorr Capital provides viable borrowing solutions for the purchase of land to fuel much needed new home construction in Ontario.Subscribe to Brian's YouTube Channel here.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Andrew Adams about Homefield Communities, a leading developer, owner and manager of accessibly priced communities across Canada that feature bright, modern homes using the highest quality materials and craftsmanship.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Craig Slama and Ana Zavyalova from Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, a leading structural engineering consulting firm. Jablonsky, Ast and Partners is helping to build SkyTower at Pinnacle One Yonge, a project that will consist of six skyscrapers ranging in height from 22 to 106 stories tall. When completed, SkyTower will be Canada's tallest residential building.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick chats with Adam Morris from Sajcan, the design partner trusted by GCs, CMs, offsite builders, and developers across North America.From concept design to BIM, permits, shop drawings, CNC files, and marketing visuals — their 30+ person team works 24/7 under North American oversight to deliver faster, smarter, and more cost-effective projects.Whether you’re adapting CMHC pre-approved designs, meeting MLI Select requirements, or building anything from ADUs to mid-rise developments — Sajcan has you covered.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with architect Bob Murphy from Murphy Partners Seniors Housing Architects about their work with seniors apartments, retirement, and long term care design. We also learn about Bob's passion for aviation and his restored Tiger Moth, C-GNGS that he still flies to this day.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Architect, Urban Designer and Urban Planner Naama Blonder about her bold vision to change what good housing can and should look like in a growing city like Toronto. Naama is the co-founder of Smart Density, an Architecture and Urban Planning firm for forward-thinking developers and creative municipalities.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with esteemed Architect Veronica Madonna about her career in architecture, starting Studio VMA Inc., her innovative approach to designing highly sustainable buildings and being a woman in a male-dominated industry.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis gets the condominium market #realtalk from Mark Cohen, founding partner at The Condo Store.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Norm Li about how he's adapted to a frozen condo market and tough decisions he's had to make.

On this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Tim Kocur, Executive Director at The Waterfront BIA, about how they're turning Toronto's waterfront into a tourist attraction for people around the world.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Toronto city counsellor Brad Bradford about what needs to be done to solve Toronto's housing crisis.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis speaks with Jack Mesley, the president of the Ontario Erector's Association. He was one of the people wearing a yellow hat, who helped build the CN Tower 50 years ago. Jack shares his memories of the time and his thoughts about this iconic tower and the vision that made it a reality.

In this episode of Building Toronto’s Skyline, Nick Ainis speaks with Adam Settino and Tom Dell'Erario from OpenSpace.OpenSpace uses Spatial AI technology to deliver products that are the fastest and easiest in the industry. With OpenSpace, builders document their projects, answer questions quickly, and solve problems by communicating in the simplest, most transparent form—images.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skylline, Nick Ainis and Toronto Mike speak with Anson Kwok, VP, Sales & Marketing at Pinnacle International Realty Group, about SkyTower at Pinnacle One Yonge, the tallest skyscraper in Canada.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis and Toronto Mike discuss Nick's new book Battle of the Skyscrapers and tease the upcoming episode with Pinnacle International about One Yonge with an informative history of the skyscraper.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Rod Rowbotham President, Principal Architect at onespace unlimited inc. about the current state of the condo industry and what he's learned along the way.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis and Toronto Mike speak with Stephen Velasco, the creator of Future Model Toronto — a 3D visualization platform that enables developers, architects, urban planners, real estate advisors, local authorities and their communities to understand the impacts of proposals in context with future development. Nick, Mike and Stephen take a look into the future at https://www.stephenvelasco.com/ and predict the development hotspots.

In this episode of Building Toronto’s Skyline, Nick Ainis speaks with Eric Rodrigues, the founding principal and creative director of Boldera Architects, a leading Toronto-based architecture firm specializing in adaptive reuse and heritage conservation. Under Eric’s leadership, Boldera is redefining modern architecture by transforming historic structures into innovative, sustainable spaces that preserve their cultural essence while meeting contemporary needs.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick AInis chats with Vice President, Business Development at CMLS Financial Chris Minor, an expert in all income-producing assets, with a particular focus on multi-family, industrial and retail. Chris works with income-producing owners and developers across Canada and has 13 years of experience in commercial mortgages.

In this episode of Building Toronto’s Skyline, Nick Ainis speaks with Richard Lyall, President of RESCON Residential Construction Council of Ontario,  a leading association of residential builders committed to providing leadership and fostering innovation in the industry.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis chats with Julian McNabb from Melbourne Property Management. Julian oversees both the Operations Team and the Consulting Division, and comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience, as a well-respected member of the condominium management industry. Julian provides consultancy services to many of Ontario's top condominium developers. He is also well-known for helping, developing and training managers to ensure that they have the requisite knowledge and understanding to meet client and resident needs in this changing industry. Over the course of his career, Julian has worked on over 800 Condominium projects in Ontario.

In this episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Nick Ainis speaks with Mario Ribeiro, CEO of Triumph Group of Companies about the growth of Triumph, their acquisition of Primeline Windows and Doors Inc. and what makes Triumph special.

In this debut episode of Building Toronto's Skyline, Toronto Mike gets to know Nick Ainis, Fusioncorp Developments Inc., and what this podcast is all about.