In Memory of Tony Leong
Tony Leong Award for Design Excellence
About Tony
Tony was a gifted designer, a devoted teacher, and a loyal friend to many in the architectural community in Calgary and across Canada.
A lifelong Calgarian, Tony earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Architecture degrees from the university of Calgary. After graduating from the School of Architecture Planning and Landscape in 1999, Tony worked as a designer in some of Calgary’s best architecture firms.
In 2009, Tony joined his former teacher, Marc Boutin, as a senior designer at the marc boutin architectural collaborative inc. (MBAC). He would go on to become an associate and a partner at the firm, a role he held until his death from cancer in 2024.
Tony helped establish MBAC’s culture of design excellence, and he contributed both directly and indirectly to many of the office’s most celebrated projects. Despite the responsibilities of his leadership role in the firm, he remained actively and intimately involved in design work. Architectural visualization was one of Tony’s greatest passions, combining architecture’s capacity for artistic and cultural expression with its capacity to look forward to a better, brighter future.
With Tony’s leadership, MBAC earned numerous accolades for its design acumen. In 2020, the office was recognized with the Architectural Firm Award by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada for its contributions to architectural design excellence, design education, and to the profession more broadly.
Tony’s most enduring architectural legacy, though, may be the countless students he mentored over the course of the many design studios he taught and the Master’s Degree Project candidates he advised at the University of Calgary. Tony’s love of design was both irrepressible and infectious. He challenged his students (and his colleagues) to never settle for the conventional, but instead to strive for the extraordinary.
About the Award
To honour Tony’s contributions to architecture as both a practitioner and an educator, Tony’s colleagues and friends are fundraising to establish a memorial award to recognize a student whose work demonstrates both a commitment to design excellence and promise for future growth as an architect.
If by May 24, 2026 the total amount received from all donors does not reach the endowment goal of $50,000.00, the funds will be utilized to fund the award on an annual basis until the funds are completely depleted. The University shall not be required to return any portion of the gift received.