VanPlex Plexperts · BC Multiplex Architect
GDP Architecture
Featured on VanPlex Plexperts — the curated directory of BC multiplex architects.
Full-service architecture studio, GDP Architecture (formerly Gronlund Dare Partnership)
A Vancouver studio that has built homes together since 2002.
Tara Gronlund and Robert Dare run GDP Architecture, formerly Gronlund Dare Partnership. They handle architecture, interiors, and landscape in one office, and now do three-to-six-unit multiplex projects across Metro Vancouver.
2002
Founded
20+ yrs
Gronlund + Dare partnership
3–6
Units per multiplex
AIBC
Registered architect
Meet GDP Architecture
GDP Architecture was founded in 2002 as Gronlund Dare Partnership. It is a two-principal studio in downtown Vancouver led by Tara Gronlund (ABID, MArch, Architect AIBC) and Robert Dare (DTech, MArch). The two have worked together for more than 20 years.
The firm handles architecture, interior design, and landscape design under one roof, on both new construction and renovation, residential and commercial. Their multiplex work covers buildings of three to six units.
The studio has several multiplex projects in progress around Metro Vancouver. The form of each one changes by municipality, by what the client wants, and by the lot — examples on their site include a six-unit multiplex in a single building and a four-unit multiplex split across two buildings.
GDP runs two extra public sites alongside its main one: multiplexesvancouver.ca and missingmiddlehousing.ca, both aimed at owners looking at small-scale multi-family under the new zoning.
Credentials
Why work with GDP
01
Architecture, interiors, and landscape in one office
GDP does the building, the interior layout and finishes, and the outdoor spaces as one engagement. For a multiplex that means the unit interiors and the shared yard get designed alongside the building instead of being handed off.
02
Sized for small multi-family
The firm states its multiplex focus as three-to-six-unit buildings — the exact band most R1-1 lots fall into. Sample schemes on their site show both a single six-unit building and a four-unit project split into two buildings.
03
Two principals who have worked together 20+ years
Tara Gronlund is the registered Architect AIBC and Robert Dare leads design. They founded the practice in 2002 and have collaborated since, so your project is run by the owners, not handed to junior staff.
Frequently asked questions
What size of multiplex does GDP take on?
Do they handle the interiors and landscaping too, or just the building?
Where is the office and how do they meet?
Call GDP at 604-522-2258 or email [email protected] to talk through your multiplex lot.
Reach out directly — no VanPlex middle layer.
Other architects
Bryn Davidson
Built Vancouver's first laneway house in 2010 and its first net-zero laneway in 2012. Lanefab now designs and builds ~10 small-multi-unit projects a year.
Cornerstone Architecture
Vancouver studio founded in 1983 that designed The Heights — an 85-unit Passive House building in Hastings-Sunrise that was the largest in Canada when it went up.
Daniel Clarke
Vancouver architect who works only on Passive House and net-zero homes and multiplexes, with about 24 years of residential experience in Western Canada.
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