Tosin is a young architect whose journey into the world of building designs started early in life. She had aspired to be an architect from looking at building plans her father would bring home when she was in secondary school, select her room from the plan and would follow her father to construction sites.
She pursued her dreams to the Architecture Association, London where she graduated as an architect and also holds a Master’s Degree in urban design from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.
Her interests are in architectural history and socially responsive approaches to design, architecture and urbanism.
In 2012, she set up a firm, cmDesign Atelier, an architecture design consultancy practice based in Lagos, executing notable projects in the city such as Maryland Mall, which is due to open in June 2016.
Prior to setting up cmD+A, her experiences have been shaped by working in leading organisations internationally, Skidmore Owing & Merril’s LLP London and the Office of Metropolitan Architecture Rotterdam, where she was part of the team that designed the 4th Mainland Bridge proposal in 2008. Upon repatriation to Lagos, she practised at James Cubitt Architects and was team lead on notable projects including the Master plan and Corporate Head Office Building for Nigeria LNG in Port Harcourt.
Her work on the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge, she said, was intense and futuristic. The team that designed the bridge included five other persons and took about 10 weeks to complete.
When completed, the double-layer bridge would not only serve as means of vehicular movement, it would also aid social and commercial interactions among pedestrians.
The Maryland Mall was designed by her firm, The mall, designed to take advantage of minimal space allotted for its construction, is a five-storey building with a basement for 219 parking spaces, a Shoprite, four cinema screens, 1 food court, I bar and 40 shops.