profile

Touloukian Touloukian Inc. is an award-winning architecture and urban design firm specializing in complex and diverse building types. Our work includes commercial, residential, cultural, institutional and historic projects ranging from new construction to adaptive re-use. We provide comprehensive design services from feasibility and permitting through construction administration to a range of clients including municipal and private entities, non-profit institutions, developers and individuals. Our design approach encompasses a clear narrative about each client's mission as well as the sustainable qualities of the site and the history of its place. The diversity of our professional experience is a strength and testament to our knowledge and leadership within the profession.

Our careful selection of material combinations and system technologies are the vehicle through which we explore the experiential and tangible qualities of a project. We navigate project constraints to promote values of simplicity that produce unique statements of creative selection, organization, and articulation. The visual and experiential result is a building bound to its place by a timeless architectural quality that unites our client’s identity with the character of the site.

We think of ourselves as executors, in that we deliver tasks on time through our ability to lead, listen and learn. We support our team’s creativity to inspire new ways of looking at problems by being innovative within a cost model and by working quickly and thoughtfully through each assignment. We deliver clear, well-crafted graphics and written descriptions, assembled into concise documentation, born from collaborative discussions, visioning exercises, market driven concepts, urban design strategies and design reviews.  

leadership

 

PRESIDENT

Theodore Touloukian, FAIA, is the President and founder of Touloukian Touloukian Inc. Ted has distinguished himself as a design leader who thinks between, across and beyond multiple disciplines. By encouraging the integration of creativity and critical thinking with project collaborators; Ted fosters an environment that develops innovative and integrated design solutions addressing our common challenges. 

Curriculum Vitae

ASSOCIATE

Carlos Guzmán, AIA, CODIA, is a registered architect in Massachusetts and the Dominican Republic, and is also an associate at Touloukian Touloukian Inc. Carlos has worked on a diverse mix of adaptive reuse, renovations and new construction projects in Boston and abroad while using and managing BIM technology for design development, documentation, consultant coordination and training.

office culture

Mentorship is vital to the growth of a successful firm. We believe that our office flourishes only if everyone is learning and growing as a professional within the office. We value the continued education of each employee to become a complete architect who understands and contributes to the interdisciplinary exchange within the profession. We provide a work environment where communication within the office is transparent, respectful, and progressive.

We enjoy being a part of young professional’s growth and development in order to provide them with multi-faceted design and construction learning opportunities that promote well rounded training on the path to licensure. We aspire to be educators in academia, practice and to the community at large. Our objective is to create a comprehensive experience and 360 degree view of the profession. We believe training to become an architect encompasses not only design and technical skills, but also developing professional judgment and awareness to refine and understand each individual’s career goals.

approach

As we grow and encounter a diversity of project types, our design resolution remains consistent with our commitment and care for the profession. Our dedication to socially and environmentally responsible design is embedded in all of our projects. We believe in the careful selection of materials and systems, thoughtful development of space planning and form, and creating scale appropriate modern projects that respect their context.


Our design thinking is guided by five principles which allow us to approach diverse tasks at all scales:
1. A clear project narrative illustrating our client’s mission

Our work strives to build on the success of our clients and to become a catalyst for their mission, prosperity and sustainability. We ask what makes our clients successful, and we work to deliver an individual approach and expanded role of architecture that brings them additional value and success. We believe in a flexible and adaptable framework that emphasizes our partnership with the client, team and community. This is fundamental to the program, economics and viability of a project. Our firm’s passion is towards the craft of timeless architecture that inspires urban spaces and the process and methods essential to it.


2. Our focus on interconnecting site properties and sustainable qualities within the natural cycle and built environment

We incorporate the natural cycle and built environments interconnected site properties as an obligation in our work. We seek out relationships between them that drive the resultant design. We envision buildings as evolving systems that connect with their climate and their uses. We design spaces that prepare for change and adaptability to set architecture in motion with the world around it. Performance based design is at the leading edge of our thinking. Our comprehensive process starts with the contextual relationship interwoven between our built environment, landscape and the natural cycle.


3. Conveying construction as a tectonic art

Our interdisciplinary approach to using standard parts, materials and connections in unique combinations and arrangements is a philosophy that allows us to create “custom” designs within a practical and cost-effective model. We research the practical aspects of materials and their assemblies relative to off site production, long-term value, and overall performance; but also the art, quality, and craft that comes with the magical combination of materials and their graceful connections. We are architects that take pleasure in detailing a project from the overall statement to the finer moments.

4. Uncovering the poetic identity with our sense of place

We aim to understand and express the history and culture unique to each site. We respect what makes each place different and we strive to include this in each architectural statement. We promote projects bound to their context by understanding and uncovering the poetic identity of a place. Sometimes this is through the creation of an expressive and forward-thinking historic reference and modern design identity.


5. Advancing the need for civic responsibility.

Our ultimate ambition is to enhance each communities quality of life, and to create sustainable places that are to be used and enjoyed for the civic good. We believe that great design can influence the way people live and respond to their environment, and also be a catalyst for making “things” around it better. Architecture should be enjoyed. The “ethos” of our architecture is the responsibility not only to our clients, but also to society as a whole in order to leave places better than when we found them for future generations to come.

firm honors

Our commitment to design excellence has been nationally and locally recognized in the industry. In 2019, our firm was named Small Firm of the Year in Multi-Disciplinary Architecture by Architecture MasterPrize, along with Best New England Architecture and Design Firm by Build Magazine. In 2018, we were recognized by Architect Magazine in the Arch50 Top 50 Firms in Nation placing #8 overall, improving on our 2017 #30 placement and 2016 #32 placement. In 2017, we were short-listed for the 2017 World Architecture News – Practice of the Year and received an Honorable Mention for the 2017 American Architecture Prize – Professional Firm of the Year Award. In 2016, we were also named one of the Top Boston Housing Design Firms by Compass Quarterly, a featured insert in the New York Times.

2023 - Boston Architects - Best Architectural Firms in Boston

2022 - Boston Awards - Architecture Firm

2022 - Boston Architects - Best Restaurant Architects and Designers in Boston

2022 - Rethinking the Future - Top 50 Architecture Firms in Boston

2020 - Boston Architects - Best Residential Architects in Boston

2020 - Boston Architects - Best Commercial Architects in Boston

2019 - Architecture Magazine Arch50 - Top 50 Architecture Firms
Touloukian Touloukian Inc - #10 overall in the Nation

2019 - Architecture Masterprize - Firm of the Year Award
Touloukian Touloukian Inc - Small Firm of the Year Award in Multi-Disciplinary Architecture

2019 - Build Magazine - Architecture Awards
Touloukian Touloukian Inc - Best Architecture & Urban Design Firm - New England

2018 - Boston Architects - Best Residential Architects and Designers in Boston

2018 - Architecture Magazine Arch50 - Top 50 Architecture Firms
Touloukian Touloukian Inc - #8 overall in the Nation

2017 - Architecture Magazine Arch50 - Top 50 Architecture Firms
Touloukian Touloukian Inc - #30 overall in the Nation

2017 - American Architecture Prize - Firm of the Year
Honorable Mention, Touloukian Touloukian Inc

2017 - World Architecture News - Practice of the Year
Finalist, Touloukian Touloukian Inc

2017 - Renoviso, "The 15 Best Architects in Boston"
Theodore Touloukian, President - Touloukian Touloukian Inc.

2016 - Architecture Magazine Arch50 - Top 50 Architecture Firms
Touloukian Touloukian Inc - #32 overall in the Nation

2015 - World Architecture News - 21 for 21
Longlist, Touloukian Touloukian Inc

2014 - AIA Center for Emerging Professionals Annual Exhibit
Brighton Park Pavilion, Brighton, MA

2010 - National AIA Young Architects Award Nominee
Theodore Touloukian, President
Boston Society of Architects, Board of Directors

project awards

We have received over 115 international, national and local design awards across 23 different projects since 2011. Recognition includes American Masterprizes; AIA New England and Local Honor Awards; Chicago Athenaeum International and American Architecture Awards; USGBC Market Leader Awards; AIA National Faith & Form Award; Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Awards; Architizer A+ Finalist, Dezeen Short List, and a Massachusetts Historical Commission Preservation Award, amongst others. We are proud of the diverse range of awards our work has been recognized for, and we feel it is a testament to our ability to be successful in a variety of project types, materials and scales.

2023

2023 Architecture MasterPrize
Boylston Street Residences, Architectural Design - Residential Architecture - Multi Unit

2023 American Architecture Awards - The Chicago Athenaeum
Boylston Street Residences, Honorable Mention

2023 Architizer A+ Awards
Boylston Street Residences, Special Mention - Multi-Unit Housing - Low Rise

2022

2022 LIV Hospitality Design Awards
Boylston Street Residences, Honorable Mention - Architecture - Living Space

2022 American Architecture Awards - The Chicago Athenaeum
654 Main Street Residences, Honorable Mention

2022 Architecture MasterPrize
333 Tremont St, Architectural Design - High Rise Buildings

2021

2021 LIV Hospitality Design Awards
Vermont Residence, Winner - Private Residence

2021 Green GOOD DESIGN Award - The Chicago Athenaeum
Coleridge Residences - Green Architecture

2020 Green GOOD DESIGN Award - The Chicago Athenaeum
Terminal B Adaptive Reuse - Green Architecture

2020 Architecture MasterPrize
Terminal B Adaptive Reuse, Honorable Mention - Green Architecture

2020 Architecture MasterPrize
Terminal B Adaptive Reuse, Honorable Mention - Restoration/Renovation

2020

2020 PRISM Award - Best Multi-Unit For-Sale Community: Attached or Detached Homes
27 H Street Residences, Gold

2020 LIV Hospitality Design Awards
Lumen at Beacon Park - Architecture Eating Space

2020 Green GOOD DESIGN Award - The Chicago Athenaeum
Terminal B Adaptive Reuse - Green Architecture

2019

2019 Boston Society of Architects Design Award
Lumen at Beacon Park - Small Firms Design

2019 USGBC MA GREEN Building Showcase
Lumen at Beacon Park, Honorable Mention - Innovation

2019 Architect's Newspaper Best of Design Awards
Coleridge Street Residences - Unbuilt Green

2019 Architect's Newspaper Best of Design Awards

Terminal B Performance Center - Unbuilt Cultural

2019 Boston Society of Architects Design Awards
Buffalo Outer Harbor Wayfinding Kiosk - Unbuilt Architecture and Design

2019 International Architecture Awards - The Chicago Athenaeum
Lumen at Beacon Park

2019 Architizer A+ Awards

Lumen at Beacon Park, Hospitality - Restaurants, Finalist

2019 Standard of Excellence Award - Architectural Woodwork Institute (AWI)

Lumen at Beacon Park, Hospitality

2019 Build Magazine - Architecture Awards

Lumen at Beacon Park, Best Commercial Project - Michigan


2019 Build Magazine - Architecture Awards *2019 Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) - Charter Awards
Beacon Park, Merit Award (with livingLAB)

2019 Green Good Design Award - The Chicago Athenaeum
333 Tremont Street, Green Architecture

2019 Green Good Design Award - The Chicago Athenaeum

6 Industrial Way Office Park, Green Architecture

2019 American Architecture Awards - The Chicago Athenaeum

333 Tremont Street, Green Architecture

2019 American Architecture Awards - The Chicago Athenaeum

6 Industrial Way Office Park, Green Architecture

2019 IIDA New England Design Awards
Lumen at Beacon Park, Best in Show

2019 Wood Works - Wood Design Awards

Lumen at Beacon Park, Winner - Beauty of Wood Award

2018

2018 The Best of NanaWall Awards
Lumen at Beacon Park, Commercial Winner - Best Restaurant

2018 CAM (Construction Architecture Michigan) - INTEX Awards

Lumen at Beacon Park, Winner - Unique Construction

2018 Eater Detroit - Design of the Year
Lumen at Beacon Park, Reader's Choice

2018 Architecture Masterprize
Lumen at Beacon Park, Winner - Commercial Architecture

2018 Architecture Masterprize

SGI New England Buddhist Center, Restoration & Renovation - Honorable Mention

2018 USGBC Green Building Showcase, Market Leader Awards
181 Coleridge Street Residences, Resilience

2018 USGBC Green Building Showcase, Market Leader Awards
6 Industrial Way Office Park, Energy & Water Efficiency

2018 PRISM Award - Best Commercial Project

Lumen at Beacon Park, Gold

2018 PRISM Award - Best Single Family Home < 2,000sf

Newton Residence, Silver

2018 PRISM Award - Best Single Family Home > 8,000sf

877 Beacon Street Residences, Silver

2018 PRISM Award - Best Single Family Home 3,000-6,000sf
Vermont Residence, Silver

2018 Architect Newspaper, Best of Design Awards
6 Industrial Way Office Park, Winner - Unbuilt Green

2018 AIA New England Design Award, Honor Award

Lumen at Beacon Park

2018 BSA Honor Award for Design Excellence
Lumen at Beacon Park

2018 BSA Hospitality Design, Honor Award
Lumen at Beacon Park

2018 Commerce Detroit Design Award
Lumen at Beacon Park

2018 AIA Detroit Honor Awards - Building Category

Lumen at Beacon Park

2018 Dezeen Awards
Lumen at Beacon Park, Hospitality Building - Longlist

2018 SBID Awards
Lumen at Beacon Park, Restaurant Design - Finalist

2018 Architizer A+ Awards
38 Newbury Street Office Suite, Finalist - Interior Office Space <25,000sf

2018 American Architecture Award - The Chicago Athenaeum
Lumen at Beacon Park

2018 American Architecture Award - The Chicago Athenaeum
Fisher Hill Reservoir Park Gatehouse & Comfort Station

2018 Metal Architecture Design Awards
Lumen at Beacon Park, Judges Award

*2018 ASLA / BSLA Merit Award for Design
Fisher Hill Reservoir Park (with Klopfer Martin Design Group)

2018 AIA New Hampshire Awards
6 Industrial Way Office Park, Unbuilt Architecture

2017

2017 International Design Award, Architecture
Fisher Hill Reservoir Park Gatehouse & Comfort Station, Honorable Mention

2017 International Design Award, Architecture
6 Industrial Way Office Park, Honorable Mention

2017 Metal Construction Association, MCA Chairman's Award
877 Beacon Street Residences, Residential Winner

2017 Architect Newspaper - Best of Design Awards, Landscape - Public
Farnham-Connolly State Park Pavilion, Honorable Mention

2017 PRISM Award - Best Remodel/Restoration
38 Newbury Street Office Suite, Gold Winner - $500k-$750k

2017 PRISM Award - Best Remodel/Restoration
SGI New England Buddhist Center, Silver Winner - Over $1Million

2017 American Architecture Prize - Landscape Architecture / Installations & Structures
Fisher Hill Reservoir Park Gatehouse & Comfort Station, Winner

2017 American Architecture Prize - Design / Green Architecture
6 Industrial Way Office Park, Honorable Mention

2017 American Architecture Prize - Landscape Architecture / Installations & Structures
Farnham-Connolly State Park Pavilion, Winner

2017 Massachusetts Historical Commission Preservation Awards
Fisher Hill Reservoir Park Gatehouse & Comfort Station

2017 AIA New England Design Excellence Awards
SGI New England Buddhist Center, Merit Award

2017 Faith & Form Award - IFRAA
SGI New England Buddhist Center

2017 BSA Honor Award for Design Excellence
Farnham-Connolly State Park Pavilion

2017 BSA Honor Award for Design Excellence
Fisher Hill Reservoir Park Gatehouse & Comfort Station

2017 BSA Small Firms / Small Design Projects Award
Fisher Hill Reservoir Park Gatehouse & Comfort Station

2017 American Architecture Award - The Chicago Athenaeum
SGI New England Buddhist Center

2017 American Architecture Award - The Chicago Athenaeum
38 Newbury Street Office Suite

2017 Green Good Design Award - The Chicago Athenaeum
Grand River Ave Park, Green Urban Planning/Landscape Architecture

2017 WAN Performing Spaces Award
Brighton Commons Pavilion, Longlist

2016

2016 International Design Award - Other Architectural Designs
Grand River Public Space, Silver Award

2016 International Design Award - Renovation
SGI New England Buddhist Center, Silver Award

2016 International Design Award - Exhibits, Pavilions & Exhibitions

Farnham-Connolly State Park Pavilion, Bronze Award

2016 Architect Newspaper Best of Design Awards - Adaptive Re-use

Fisher Hill Reservoir Park Gatehouse & Comfort Station, Honorable Mention

*2016 ASLA / BSLA Award of Excellence
Farnham-Connolly State Park (with Crosby Schlessinger Smallridge)

2016 AIA New England Design Excellence Awards - Historic Preservation + Adaptive Re-use
Fisher Hill Reservoir Park Gatehouse & Comfort Station, Merit Award

2016 AAP American Architecture Prize - Restoration & Renovation

38 Newbury Street Office Suite, Gold Award

2016 AAP American Architecture Prize - Workplaces
38 Newbury Street Office Suite, Bronze Award

2016 BSA Honor Award for Design Excellence
38 Newbury Street Office Suite, Citation

2015 A’ Design Award and Competition - International - Interior Space
Gold Award, 38 Newbury Street Office Suite

2015 International Design Awards (IDA) - Office Space

38 Newbury Street Office Suite, Silver Award

2015 International Design Awards (IDA) - Urban Design
Brighton Park Pavilion, Honorable Mention

2015 AISC Certificate of Recognition for Steel Construction

Brighton Park Pavilion

2015 AISC Certificate of Recognition for Steel Construction
Farnham-Connolly State Park Pavilion

2015

2015 Architect Newspaper Best of Design Award
38 Newbury Street Office Suite, Renovation

2015 AIA / BSA Interior Architecture / Interior Design Awards
38 Newbury Street Office Suite, Honor Award - "The Hobson"

2015 SBID Awards - Office Design

38 Newbury Street Office Suite, Finalist

2015 American Architecture Award - The Chicago Athenaeum

Brighton Park Pavilion

2015 AIA New England Design Award

38 Newbury Street Office Suite, Merit Award - Interiors

2015 AIA New England Design Award - Special Projects

Farnham-Connolly State Park Pavilion, Merit Award

*2011 ASLA/BSLA Landscape Analysis & Planning Awards
Farnham-Connolly State Park Pavilion, Merit Award (with Crosby Schlessinger Smallridge)

2010 AIA/BSA Small Firms/Small Projects
Riverside Park Pavilion, Honor Award for Design Excellence

2010 Design Biennial Boston Award & Exhibit
Organized by the Pinkcomma gallery, sponsored by the BSA

2008 AIA/BSA Small Firms/Small Projects
East 6th Street House, Award for Design Excellence

2008 AIA/BSA Small Firms/Small Projects

City Center Park Pergolas & Pavilion, Citation for Design

2008 - 2014

2014 ABC Excellence in Construction Awards
The Wyeth Residences, Green Award

2014 ABC Excellence in Construction Awards
The Wyeth Residences, Eagle Award

2014 BSA Small Firms / Small Projects
112 Fulton Street Residence

2013 Design Biennial Boston, Award
Riverside Park, organized by the Pinkcomma gallery, sponsored by the BSA

2011 AISC Certificate of Recognition for Steel Construction

Riverside Park

*2011 ASLA/BSLA Design Awards

Riverside Park, Merit Award (with Halvorson Design Partnership)

 

contact

employment

Please send all employment inquiries to hr@ttarch.com 

Touloukian Touloukian Inc.

67 Batterymarch Street, Suite 200

Boston, MA 02110

617-526-0884

info@ttarch.com