Lara McKendrick is the president of the governing Council of the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA), which regulates the practice of architecture to protect the public interest. An Ottawa-based Architect with 25 years of experience, she is the founder of Lara McKendrick Architecture Inc. (LMA), specializing in adaptive reuse of existing buildings and sites, custom residential projects, and deep energy retrofits. Her work is guided by a first-principles approach to sustainability, creating healthy, flexible, durable, and beautiful spaces. A graduate of Carleton University’s School of Architecture, McKendrick worked at several prominent Ottawa firms before establishing her own practice in 2011.