In 1973 together with some colleague friends he started the consulting firm ORBIS Institute for Environmental Design, Foad being the Managing Director. While practicing in
Tehran, in addition to multiple residential projects, he worked on two major department stores and a few hospitals. Foad moved to
Vancouver in 1979, and after working for an architectural firm for a couple of years, established his practice in 1983. The name of the practice was changed to Rafii Architects in 1985. In more than a quarter century, Rafii Architects has designed numerous major projects in Vancouver, the rest of
British Columbia,
Alberta, and some projects abroad. "The Greater Vancouver Book", an urban encyclopedia- The year 1997- notes: Iranian Architects like Foad Rafii, who designed the first buildings constructed on the North shore of False Creek after Expo 86 and the new mixed use Woodward's building Downtown, have made and are continuing to make a significant impact on the changing face of Vancouver. The
Woodward's Building project was abandoned later, as a result of the sale of the property from the province of British Columbia to the City of Vancouver. In fall 2009 an article published in
Canadian Builders Quarterly, focused on "Vancouverism" quotes Foad Rafii as an Architect who shares a significant role in this movement. File:Spring Project-Austin-Texas-2010-Rafii.JPG|
Spring Tower,
Austin, Texas, United States. File:Altamonte-Coquitlam-BC-2008-Rafii.JPG|Altamonte Tower, Coquitlam,
British Columbia, Canada File:Domus-Vancouver-BC-2005-Rafii.jpg|Entrance to Domus Tower,
Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada ==Award winning projects==