An innovative leader in the education, long-term care and senior living spaces, Gerry Pilon is an award- winning architect that has spent his life dedicated to creating practical living and learning spaces for young and old. With 35 years in the industry and 25 years leading a team of architects as the Principal partner, he has established himself in the healthcare, civic, and education sectors.

Under Gerry’s tenure, Salter Pilon Architecture has tallied a long list of projects to the firm’s 62 years of operation. Through a long and successful career, Gerry has maintained a philosophy of sound innovation balanced by technical excellence that has been applied to projects ranging from school retrofits to new build retirement villages of $100 million plus. This has earned him a reputation for quality design, overall value, sustainable building ingenuity and successful project implementation. Combining integrity, innovation and leadership, Gerry inspires the SPA team in continuing to evolve building design with the way people choose to live, work and play.

Sustainable practices have been at the core of Gerry’s beliefs in design, material selection and in construction budget performance, long before most were shaping their views on building sustainability. As a LEED practitioner, he often drives clients to smart choices for long-term operational cost reduction and finds ways for them to implement sustainable approaches even if their budgets restrict them from achieving certified Green Standards.

Gerry is a hands-on leader known for managing large complex projects while providing consistent and reliable services to his clients. With recognized projects across Ontario, some of his skyline arsenal includes the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (CCDC5B), Georgian Village Long-term Care ($65M | LEED Silver), the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre Phase One Redevelopment ($258 | CCDC5B), the Ontario Provincial Police General Headquarters, the Richcraft Recreation Complex Kanata (CCDC5B); The Summit at Quadra Village ($84M LTC | CCDC5B); in construction the Golden Plough Lodge LTC Redevelopment with a budget of $80M; and in early site works the $225M Simcoe Manor Campus of Care with a 440,000 sq. ft. GFA.

As a versatile Architect Principal, he takes his influence from client objectives and site surrounding buildings to direct designs that will be immersed into their new space to reflect the community desires and establish future-adaptability initiatives. Whether his building designs require heritage fashioned or modern design aesthetics, he coordinates material selection and construction processes to suit the environment and control costs for successful outcomes.

While others have pursued artistic architectural sculptures, Gerry has maintained functional execution of design and construction administration for clients to realize their visions, time and time again. The experience he has amassed because of this approach means he is frequently sought out for others to take their projects from paper to production.