Shallyn Murray
Architect/Co-Owner, Nine Yards Studio
I graduated from Dalhousie University with a Masters of Architecture in 2012 and moved back to PEI to pursue a career in architecture in my home province. I was fortunate to have a diverse education and a love and opportunity for travel that has inspired and continues to inspire me and my architecture.
In 2017, I created Nine Yards Studio with my partner, Silva Stojak. We had a vision for a studio model that stepped outside the boundaries of architecture with an emphasis on collaboration with other talented creatives in the community - builders, graphic designers, photographers – creating a network of passionate designers in the city. Nine Yards Studio has had a successful year and a half and we are now working on an expansion that will focus on modern furniture design. We are currently opening our fabrication shop (with lots of exciting new toys and tools) with plans to have small local store in the coming months.
What are you most proud of professionally? And who or why?
I am definitely most proud of our Urban Beehive Project, which is a community project here in Charlottetown that focuses on educating the public about the importance of bees. It has been our 'happy' project, as we like to call it. This project was incredibly challenging and being involved from conception to execution was an incredibly rewarding experience.
What's your vision for Atlantic Canada in 10 years? What’s our biggest opportunity now?
I would like to see Atlantic Canada become a leader in sustainable design and focus on building our cities with a forward thinking, innovative mindset. Particularly in Charlottetown, where we see a lot of growth starting to happen rapidly, we have an opportunity to set a new standard of sustainability.
Who's inspired you, directly or indirectly? How have they inspired you?
One of my biggest inspirations has been my now business partner, Silva. She is an amazing designer and her passion and enthusiasm for new design ideas and willingness to explore and experiment has only further fueled my own love for design.
What were your priorities and how did they help you overcome some of the struggles you've faced?
Our priorities have always been delivering great design at any/every scale and now more then ever, I see that guiding our decisions about which jobs we take on, how we move forward and what to jump into next.
Modern architecture is not always accepted here with open arms and we have had to find creative ways to explore the kind of design that we feel is important without compromising our business.
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Architect, Designer, Entrepreneur, Bee Enthusiast, Avid Traveller, Coffee Lover, Candy Fiend
