It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of one of our firm’s Principals and Lead Architects Marten Duhoux. Marten passed away on June 9th, 2022, at the age of 49. Our firm and the architectural community will forever remember him as a passionate and dedicated designer, leader, and friend.
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Marten’s plan is to change the world.
A third-generation architect from The Netherlands, it seemed as if his path forward was set from birth. How else would the son of a Dutch Architect and a Mennonite Pastor end up in Winnipeg, Manitoba as a partner at ft3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design?
The current iteration of ft3 with 5 principals and 5 associates, has Marten leading our sustainability initiatives, multi-family housing portfolio and research & development. Committed to sustainability as a consideration from the earliest stages of design and throughout the life of a project, his projects with the firm include the International Peace Gardens Interpretive Centre (LEED Silver Certified), the ft3 offices at The Strand on Waterfront Drive (LEED CI Gold Certified), St Matthews Anglican Church, and St Peter’s Parish Hall.
A LEED® Accredited Professional since 2008, he has served as National Director of the Canada Green Building Council and as Chair of the Manitoba Chapter on two occasions. His tireless and unwavering commitment to our profession and the community had Marten serving as President of the Manitoba Association of Architects this current year and on the Board of Directors for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for the past eight years as well as on Red River College Polytech’s Strategic Council of Construction. Marten has always had difficulty saying ‘no’ to worthwhile opportunities.
Known for his ability to bridge gaps and have people come together it is fitting that Marten also serves as an evaluator for the Broadly Experienced Foreign Architect (BEFA) program, allowing internationally trained architects to gain licensure in Canada. Marten was one of the first in Canada to utilize this program upon his arrival to Winnipeg and he valued the diversity that enhanced the local professional community with BEFA available to others. Instrumental in ft3’s hiring practices, Marten expanded our diversity and relentlessly advocated for students and interns. He recently led the establishment of ft3’s endowment fund focusing on the support of indigenous students of architecture at the University of Manitoba, contributing his personal resources to increase the startup of the fund.
Described as caring, compassionate, smart and a good man, Marten left an impact on all those he encountered. When others of us might become jaded or discouraged by circumstances, Marten looked for a path forward that would leave a positive outcome. Coming to Manitoba in 2004, following his architectural schooling at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands and an internship in San Francisco, California, Marten was an eager and sometimes overzealous colleague. Marten was motivated by the solution-driven, optimistic, and communal nature of his work.
He quickly found his place in the firm, carving out his niche and advocating for a better world. Marten is motivated by the solution-driven, optimistic, and communal nature of his work and he currently holds licenses in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, the Northwest Territories, California, and the Netherlands. When confronted with enormous challenges that our world faces, Marten was fond of saying that the architect’s solution was to ‘build something’. We understand that to be a profound statement of ‘building a better world’. And we will continue to build a better world in his honor.
We are profoundly saddened to lose our partner and friend, Marten Willem Duhoux, ir Architect AAA MAA NWTAA OAA SAA MRAIC AIA LEED BD+C ID+C, Principal, far too soon after a brief battle with cancer.
