WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Thoughtful, elegant, and inclusive. This strong intervention into the Brutalist architecture of the Confederation Centre of the Arts is an example of how 1960s architecture can be elevated to today’s standards of community. Prioritizing a street-level entrance changes the proportions of the existing façade, creating an entry that feels like it has always been there. The additional masses reference the heritage forms while skillfully creating contrast through materiality, considered fenestration, and a slight reveal that allows the forms to visually slide past each other. Ultimately, the new intervention strengthens the entire site.
– Matthew Hickey, juror

LOCATION Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

The Confederation Centre of the Arts (CCoA), in Charlottetown, PEI, is a textbook example of how an initially acclaimed effort by architects of one generation to design something noble, egalitarian, and enduring can look exclusionist and problematic several decades later.

 Designed by Affleck, Desbarats, Dimakopoulos, Lebensold and Sise and completed in 1964, this Brutalist National Historic Site—conceived as “Canada’s national memorial to the Fathers of Confederation”—originally consisted of library, theatre, and art gallery buildings, extruded up through a podium edged with terraced planters, and framing a sunken courtyard. “The original intent of Brutalist architecture,” as Abbott Brown Architects notes in the award submission, “was to dislocate it from the normative iconography of power and make it accessible and empowering to all.”

Today, however, the CCoA’s physical inaccessibility and aloofness feels alienating and out of step with Canada’s heterogeneity. Prior to design work on this project, Abbott Brown co-sponsored a conference at which artists and others from diverse backgrounds explained why the very cultural centres meant to embody their voices felt uncomfortable and unwelcoming.  

Drawing from the insights of that gathering, the Phase 1 Revitalization will transform and expand the former library pavilion into a new National Cultural Leadership Institute, which will offer a hub for convening on important Canadian issues, arts and cultural learning programs, as well as spaces for Canadian arts creation and hosting community events.

Abbott Brown’s intent is to preserve the integrity of the original architecture, while subverting its impenetrable character. New construction is restricted to the interstitial zones between the existing volumes, and to the adjacent plaza. Removing a swath of the perimeter terracing along Richmond Street, inserting new glazing, and situating a new atrium floor at grade opens one of the pavilions directly to the street. Within, the mass timber structure of the new connecting volumes takes the chill off the existing expanses of exposed concrete. Removing portions of the original Level 2 and Level 3 floors and inserting a translucent, load-bearing stair just below street level creates new atrium space at street level. The interstitial interventions also establish a new opening to the CCoA’s sunken Garden Courtyard.

In contrast with the original complex’s monolithically blank sandstone exterior walls, the cladding of the new additions combines generous glazing with panels formed from irregular, glazed, terracotta ribs. While keeping within an overall bone-white tonal range, the ribs will vary in profile, texture, and glazing. In this way, the manufactured panels will recall the subtle variations that are celebrated in the traditions of Japanese and Korean handcrafted ceramics. “The cladding itself is a subtle, luminous mosaic, offering the onlooker lively shifts and divergent impressions at different scales,” the award submission states. “It is an intentional, experiential metaphor for the complexity and diversity of contemporary society.”

Targeting CaGBC Zero Carbon Building – Design certification, this first phase of the CCoA’s revitalization preserves most of the existing mass-concrete structure, while introducing large central skylights, stack-effect ventilation, PV rooftop arrays, and many other strategies for improved energy performance.

CLIENT Confederation Centre of the Arts | ARCHITECT TEAM Alec Brown (MRAIC), Jane Abbott (MRAIC), June Jung, Katelyn Latham, Karen Mills, Blake Klotz, Brittany Dwyer, Camila Lima, Saejin Lim, Celina Abba, Leanna Letterio, Kaley Doleman, Jack Ziemanski, Tony Rukongwa, Will McInnes | STRUCTURAL/CIVIL SCL Engineering | MECHANICAL MCA Consultants | ELECTRICAL Richardson Associates | LANDSCAPE NIPPAYSAGE | QUANTITY SURVEYOR QSolv | SUSTAINABILITY reLoad Sustainable Design | CODE LMDG | ACOUSTICS Fox Technologies | CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT Brighton Construction | AREA 4,000 m2 | BUDGET $60 M | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION May 2026 

ENERGY USE INTENSITY (EUI)116 kWh/m2/year | THERMAL ENERGY DEMAND INTENSITY (TEDI)34.9 kWh/m2/year | GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INTENSITY (GHGI)24 kg CO2e/m2 | WATER USE INTENSITY (WUI) 0.17 m3/m2/year

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

See all the 2024 Awards of Excellence winners

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

This quiet infill project feels inevitable and fresh. The design strikes an intelligent balance between the modern and the historic as it rebuilds and abstracts the footprint of a previous structure that burned down in 1959. A modern mansard roof doubles as a shroud for unsightly mechanical equipment, a change in stone texture marks the parapet of the previous building, and each floor’s efficient planning responds to the stairs and exits of the adjacent building.
– D’Arcy Jones, juror

LOCATION Montreal, Quebec

An 18 x 80-foot sliver of real estate in Montreal’s Old Port district has been vacant since 1959, when the modest 19th-century warehouse that formerly occupied the site burned down. To state the obvious, any land parcel that has remained a pocket-size parking lot for more than six decades in this bustling tourism, dining, and shopping district must be fairly resistant to redevelopment. However, the owner of both this corner lot and the mixed-use heritage building adjacent to it determined that an infill building would be viable if it shared elevator and stair access with its neighbour to the east. Architecture écologique’s efficient design makes this happen, and it addresses the site’s challenges with urbane grace.

Due to the topography’s southward slope, the existing building has five storeys along its Rue de la Commune façade, which overlooks the St. Lawrence River, and only four on its north façade, along Rue Saint-Paul. It has retail tenancy at street level on Saint-Paul, and on the first two floors along Rue de la Commune, with two levels of office space above that and a residential loft on level five. The infill building will have a similar disposition of retail space, plus five apartments on its upper four levels, ranging in size from a studio to a three-bedroom unit. The top two apartments are each two-floor stair-connected units, with an upper-level terrace. A mansard-like roof, echoing the form of many others in the district that became Montreal’s main port in the 1600s, tucks the mechanical equipment out of sight.

While clearly a building of its own time, the infill structure subtly alludes to its predecessor, echoing the fire-destroyed building’s rounded corners and marking the height of its parapet with a shift in stone texture.

Best known to date for rural, single-family residences, architecture écologique founder Etienne Lemay demonstrates a deft touch on this project for mixed-use infill in a heritage district. And as his firm’s name suggests, this building will have a small footprint, sustainably as well as literally: its above-ground structural system will be cross-laminated timber; its heating and cooling will be geothermal.

CLIENT Pierre Bouvrette | ARCHITECTS  Etienne Lemay, Odile Lamy | STRUCTURAL Latéral | MECHANICAL Canopée | CODE Technorm Inc. | AREA 965 m2 | BUDGET $4.5 M | STATUS Design development| ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2026

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

The need for supportive housing is at a crisis point across Canada. 11 Brock Avenue not only addresses this need, but does so in a way that understands the effects of good design and the critical need for a baseline of net-zero and low carbon in building construction. This project prioritizes community through the design of an interior single-loaded corridor that promotes access to light and views to the communal spaces along the courtyard. The street façade expresses the rigour of mass timber construction, while still being playful and achieving a balance between opaque and transparent surfaces. – Matthew Hickey, juror

LOCATION Toronto, Ontario

11 Brock Avenue is one of five projects resulting from a City of Toronto partnership with the Federal Government to create urgently needed supportive and affordable housing under the Rapid Housing Initiative. Targeting housing-ready sites, the initiative funds projects that are fast-tracked from project start to occupancy within 18 months.

 Located in Toronto’s central-west Parkdale neighbourhood, 11 Brock Avenue will provide 42 new supportive and rent-geared-to-income residential units on a corner lot that has been vacant for years. The building’s fine-grained, four-storey Brock Avenue façade is vertically divided into six bands, and animated by a couple of curves reminiscent of an old rolltop desk. One band demarcates the main entry by rolling inward above it; an adjacent band unrolls above the ground at bench height, creating an informal seating platform. Along the building’s west and north facades, its landscaped border amps up visual interest by oscillating in plan between planting beds and hardscaped areas for seating and bicycle parking.

Several other congenial ideas coalesce in and around the building’s tiered, south-facing courtyard. At grade, the building’s dining hall and lounge, lobby corridor, and staff spaces all face onto a compact courtyard patio, providing the ‘eyes on the street’ that help make this secluded space feel like a safe, sociable hub. The laundry room, conceived here as a social space rather than a purely utilitarian one, also has a courtyard view. A series of outdoor areas cascade down towards the ground-floor patio: the topmost tier is a garden terrace, with picnic tables and raised accessible community-garden planting beds. Single-loaded corridors wrap the outdoor space on three sides, and include large window-boxes with seating, so that residents can sit by a window with views to the shared social area.

11 Brock Avenue is an all-electric, mass timber building, designed to meet net zero and low embodied carbon requirements. A wide band of extensive green roof aids in retaining stormwater and promotes biodiversity; the roof has also been designed to support a planned, future photovoltaics installation.

The layout of the residential units is optimized for simplicity and efficiency, and ensures privacy by not having any units face each other. Using a regular grid layout and repeating stacked suites improves the efficiency of the design and the speed of construction. More than 30 percent of the homes this project provides are accessible suites.

CLIENT Govan Brown and Associates Ltd., City of Toronto | ARCHITECT TEAM Aaron Budd (MRAIC), Sam Dufaux, Joseph Khan, Hayley Imerman (MRAIC), Hugo Flammin, Jessica Daga, Evan Wakelin, Aziza Asat, Jina Lee, Luke Kairys, Valerie Hough, Bonnie Chuong, Hillary Eppel, Huy Pham | TRANSPORTATION BA Consulting Group | AREA 1,055 m2 | BUDGET Withheld | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2025

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Whimsical, yet structured, it is easy to imagine how this pavilion will become an icon for the city and create a gravitational pull for park users. The boldness of the vaulted roof structure and its consistent rhythm defies the organic shape in plan. With its strong monochromatic colour, it creates a distinctive, warm presence in the park.
– Andrea Wolff, juror

LOCATION Edmonton, Alberta

Architecture is what separates a pavilion from a shed. Gh3*’s building for a pending park on the western edge of Edmonton’s downtown has a modest and largely utilitarian program: it contains washrooms, community multi-purpose space, mechanical and electrical rooms, storage space, and staff space. But this welcoming, emphatically red little building, topped with a yoo-hoo of a barrel-vaulted, cantilevered roof, looks set to become an instant local landmark. Warehouse Park Pavilion speaks, as its award submission notes, to a time when park pavilions were “celebratory.”

Reclaiming a former car dealership precinct as public green space, Warehouse Park aims to reconnect this part of Edmonton with its Indigenous roots. The name O-day’min, gifted by a local Elder to the ward in which the park is located, means “strawberry” or “heart-berry” in Anishinaabemowin. The berry-red pavilion on the west side of the park will embrace and define the Warming Plaza (a.k.a. west plaza), a community space centred around a fire pit,  and face toward the main, strawberry-shaped open lawn to the east.

The park’s geometry and organization generated the pavilion’s footprint. While the building encloses 270 m2, its irregularly shaped roof canopy stretches out to cover 400 m2, providing bountiful sheltered outdoor space in a configuration that aligns with surrounding park pathways. The pavilion’s large glazed areas, in combination with its relatively narrow width, allow for transparency and clear views from the alley along its west edge through to the public plaza to the east. Its robust exterior materials—tempered laminated glass and powder-coated steel—are graffiti resilient and resistant to vandalism.

This project’s barrel vaulting tips the hat to historic modern buildings in Edmonton such as Jasper Place High School and the Westwood Transit Garage—and affirms that this ancient structural form lends itself anew to contemporary applications. The vaulted ceilings and interior walls, washrooms (including partitions) and event space are clad with red-stained marine grade plywood. Lest the site’s immediate past be forgot, the exterior areas of the pavilion’s cast-in-place concrete floor have an acid-etched, aggregate-exposing finish that mimics the old car dealerships’ durable terrazzo flooring, patches of which still remained in place after initial attempts to clear the site. (Interior public-area floors are polished concrete.)

The building is passively ventilated with no cooling; its deep roof overhang reduces solar gain and associated cooling loads.

Glowing a warm red even on a cold winter night and inviting all visitors to pause for a moment to enjoy its scalloped roofline, Warehouse Park Pavilion provides basic amenities with an uplifting generosity of spirit.

CLIENT City of Edmonton | ARCHITECT TEAM Pat Hanson (FRAIC), Raymond Chow (MRAIC), Elise Shelley, John McKenna, Joel Di Giacomo, Richard Freeman, Petra Bogias, Alison Huo | LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE DESIGN LEAD CCxA | LOCAL LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE / STRUCTURAL / MECHANICAL / ENGINEERING / CIVIL / TRAFFIC AECOM| LIGHTING Ombrages / Éclairage public | PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS Twenty/20 Communications | AREA Building—270m2 ; Park—17,800 m2 | BUDGET Pavilion—$5.6M; Entire Park—$35.3M | STATUS Under construction| ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2025 

ENERGY USE INTENSITY (EUI) 179.16 kWh/m2/year | THERMAL ENERGY DEMAND INTENSITY (TEDI) 23.5 kWh/m2/year | GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INTENSITY (GHGI) 1.38 kg CO2e/m2 | WATER USE INTENSITY (WUI) 2.22 m3/m2/year

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

This design demonstrates an understanding of the community, the character of the neighbourhood and the importance of preserving the existing Hibernia Park. The building footprint is reduced by stacking the program on three levels and allowing the public functions to spill out on the ground floor. The strength of this project lies on its relationship to the existing building and the park. The fluid organic forms at the ground floor open to the park, while the structured upper levels and asymmetrical, yet structured approach to the elevations act as a foil to the formality of the stone façade of the existing fire hall building. The low-budget, industrial approach to the structure adds to the charming and inviting nature of the building, and informs the expression of the façade.
– Andrea Wolff, juror

LOCATION Montreal, Quebec

The physical and symbolic heart of Pointe-Saint-Charles, a historically working-class area in Montreal, is Hibernia Park and its old fire hall. 50 years ago, the community fought to preserve the fire hall as a means to oppose development of a boulevard that would cut the neighbourhood in two. They stopped the boulevard, saved the fire hall, and transformed it into their municipal library. 

The present addition will almost triple the size of the existing library. The City of Montreal conducted extensive public outreach and programming sessions with the local community prior to launching a competition for its design. However, the competition process excluded any ties between the designers and the community. To maintain the activist spirit of the community, the architects transformed their working process, inventing citizen-avatars—people exchanging books, elderly people in a dance class, a teacher with their pupils—and role-playing their opinions in the developing work.

This exercise significantly refined the design. The program called for a two-storey addition, but to safeguard the park, the team proposed a compact three-storey library that reinforces the alignment of the fire hall. Elevating a portion of the addition creates a sheltered outdoor space, connected to an interior meeting area. The interior spaces of the library are oriented towards the park.

From a sustainability perspective, the design prioritizes the use of simple systems and materials with local supply chains, including two-storey trusses that use less steel, a ribbed slab with reduced concrete, and exposed mass timber deck and joists. Bricks removed from the existing building will be reused as paving under benches and bike racks, and the stone extracted for geothermal wells will become sub-grade for the park’s hard surfaces. 

Moreover, the design encourages active transportation and urban agriculture, both of which are popular in the neighbourhood. The outdoor agora includes an abundance of bike racks, as well as public access to bike repair tools and compressed air; planting areas are part of the roof terrace and park, while the library itself hosts a seed library and gardening classes. “We have tried to make a library that says: move your body, eat fresh food, and share with your neighbours,” write the designers. “If this project creates even a small change in the transportation and consumption habits of its users, it will increase social cohesion and reduce the neighbourhood’s carbon footprint two orders of magnitude more than a net-zero building could achieve here.”

CLIENT Ville de Montréal | ARCHITECT TEAM Lapointe Magne & Associés—Katarina Cernacek, Pascale-Lise Collin, Émilie Maumy, Océane Perham, Florian Vadjoux, Qiang Fu, Martin-F. Daigle, Soubhi Jabal. L’ŒUF Architectes— Sudhir Suri, Jennifer Benis, Edith Beauvais-Sauro, Foti Boulougaris, Aradhana Gupta, Bahia Burias, Camille Debuisne, Chloé Deblois, Ariane Ducharme | STRUCTURAL L2C Experts-Conseils | MECHANICAL Dupras Ledoux | CIVIL Vinci Consultants | LANDSCAPE NIPPAYSAGE | AREA 3,075 m2| BUDGET $21.6 M | STATUS Construction documents | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION Fall 2027

ENERGY USE INTENSITY (EUI) 97.22 kWh/m2/year | THERMAL ENERGY DEMAND INTENSITY (TEDI) 26.94 kWh/m2/year | GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INTENSITY (GHGI) 2.33 kg CO2e/m2 | WATER USE INTENSITY (WUI) 0.081 m3/m2/year

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

The jury appreciated the architect’s structural, spatial, and compositional commitment to an organizing grid. This design approach can be relentless or unremarkable when handled without variation. This project’s strategy yields a range of nuanced spaces with different light conditions, offering an alternative to overglazed public spaces.
– D’Arcy Jones, juror

LOCATION Mont Laurier, Quebec

Nestled in the heart of the Hautes-Laurentides region, at the gate to northwestern Quebec, Mont Laurier is a municipality of 15,000 surrounded by forests and mountains. The region’s growth was historically driven by the province’s developing forestry industry—an industry celebrated in Mont Laurier Library’s innovative use of wood.

 The design features local engineered wood in an exposed reciprocal waffle frame, the first of its kind for a cultural building in Canada. The reciprocal framing system is a repetitive assembly of short glulam beams of identical eight-foot (2440 mm) lengths. These members, which are tied together by simple connections, cross and support each other in a balancing act that is then delicately placed on round, pin-like columns. 

The bi-directional structural pattern of wood is organized in a rigorous four-foot (1220 mm) grid. This measurement is the width of the standard sheets of plywood used as the architectural decking of the system. Overall, the system is designed to minimize waste and maximize the use of the primary resource of local engineered product. The criss-cross woven wood beams are fully visible on the library ceiling, appearing like a pixelated quilt. 

The gridded framing system architecturally integrates services including lighting, fire protection, acoustics, and IT. It is mirrored by the use of a raised floor system, which includes a displacement ventilation and air-conditioning system, optimizing thermal comfort for occupants. Through the design process, meticulous attention was paid to the efficiency of the programmatic layout, and its alignments with the grids of the both the structure and floor. 

This reciprocal framing concept is conceived as a full-scale prototype for a fully reproducible, factory-prefabricated system. The proposed structural system allows for the complete deconstruction of the framework and reuse of the glulam modular framing elements. The research and design of these mass timber components is being followed by Quebec’s Ministry of Forests, Fauna and Parks. The concept is part of a vision to reduce the production of GHGs in the construction industry through designing for disassembly, stimulating reflection on the lifecycle of building components and on the potential for the decarbonization of our industry.

CLIENT Ville de Mont-Laurier | ARCHITECT TEAM Stephan Chevalier (MIRAC), Sergio Morales (MIRAC), Ève Beaumont-Cousineau, Alexandre Massé, Julien Daly, Harvey Samuel, Olivier Brasseur-Trottier | STRUCTURAL Latéral | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL Pageau Morel | AREA 1,325 m2 | BUDGET $10.9 M | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2025

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INTENSITY (GHGI) 218 kg CO2e/m2

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

In an era of increased need for housing, particularly the missing middle, the Annex House project prioritizes hidden density in an established neighbourhood. The project is designed with a unique character that minimizes visual impact from the street while prioritizing access to natural light for all the units, including the lower level. While the proposal to split the project into five units may be challenging, the increase from a single-family home to three unique suites begins to address the need for this housing typology in an ever-growing city.
– Matthew Hickey, juror

LOCATION Toronto, Ontario

Some of the major challenges with gentle density are related to access. Multiplexes on narrow lots often forfeit a significant portion of the main elevation to establish a shared entrance. The default alternative is to impose a hierarchical, ‘tradesman’s entrance’ condition on the occupants of the rear dwelling, who must enter their home from the backdoor. Narrow lots are the norm in Toronto’s central, well-established Annex neighbourhood, and recent changes to the city’s bylaws have simplified permitting for laneway houses, garden suites and multiplexes. Annex House resolves the equal-access issue by placing the entrances for each unit along a shared pathway set within its side-yard setback, granting a pleasant entry experience for all residents, whether they arrive on foot from the main street or by car from the laneway garage.

WAO implemented four strategies to allow three distinct units to co-exist on the narrow Annex lot—all with privacy and surprisingly generous access to natural light. One: all primary living spaces in the main house’s two interlocking units and in the laneway unit face onto the shared courtyard. The more private orientation makes it possible for extra-large glazing units which maximize daylight and views. Two: a masonry perimeter wall wraps around the pathway that provides access to all three residences; this reinforces the semi-private character of the exterior common spaces and brings the two buildings together to form a unified architectural experience. Three: taking cues from the mansard roofs and dormer windows of the historic Annex homes, the entire upper volume of the main house reads as one vertically-stretched, dormer-set mansard on the street elevation. The mansard overhang provides shading for the large floor-to-ceiling windows and a canopy condition above all three entrance points. On the courtyard-facing elevations, balconies are carved into the sloping roofs of the main house and laneway suite; providing private exterior spaces for each unit. Four: working within building code restrictions that limit openings on the side facades, Annex House augments access to natural light by introducing an 8-metre-long skylight above a triple-height space, with openings on the adjacent rooms to maximize light penetration. Similarly, lightwells at both ends of the lower unit draw daylight into the basement-level spaces. 

The cladding combines conventional brick on the lower levels with cover brick on the sloped upper storeys. Although the cover brick and the regular brick were produced from the same clay, the unit shape of the upper-storey cladding creates a similar effect to timber siding, making it appear lighter—more roof-like—than the masonry base below.

Annex House is now in construction and scheduled for summer 2025 completion. The submission notes that with minor modifications to the main house’s floor plan, the project’s current three-unit configuration could be converted into four or five units.

CLIENT Withheld | ARCHITECT TEAM Harry MX Wei | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Contact & Continuity Inc. | STRUCTURAL Kieffer Structural Engineering | MECHANICAL Zaab Consulting | PLANNING Galbraith & Associates | AREA 300 m2 | BUDGET Withheld | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION Spring 2025

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

This entry extracts a lot of impact from a simple palette of bold paint and steel mesh. The design exceeds the client’s expectations by combining a sporty public washroom and pickleball court. Public safety is addressed by reconsidering accepted conventions. One example is exposed washbasins against a glass wall to celebrate an everyday activity in a light-hearted, performative way.
– D’Arcy Jones, juror

LOCATION Calgary, Alberta

The Open is a public washroom that is under construction in the East Village of Calgary. It is the winning submission of a national public design competition hosted by the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation. The hybrid architecture and landscape architecture facility marries sport with utility, aiming to transform a functional program into a meaningful urban place. 

The architects chose to locate the washroom at the end of 7th Avenue SE, close to existing utilities and intersecting pathways, where it could reinforce the urban edge of both the park and the neighbourhood. To bring an animating activity to the building, the 3,000-square-foot facility houses both a new public washroom and a single pickleball court. This pairing of programs makes the structure large enough to have a presence amongst its 12-storey neighbours, yet light enough at street level to feel transparent and safe within the urban park.

This modest piece of public infrastructure has a social placemaking element that is intended to serve a multi-generational demographic in Calgary’s burgeoning East Village. Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in North America, and a free outdoor court brings an active use to the facility—countering the common perception of public washrooms as dank, territorial, and in some cases dangerous places. In the architects’ conception, the project is a “mullet”: “business up front, party out back.”

The facility is wrapped with a teal metal screen, and the court is painted with vibrant colours and court lines. At the end of the court, tiered seating encourages spectators to linger. A sedum-planted, wedge-shaped roof nods to the nearby Rocky Mountains.

The firm’s experience with public washroom design over the past fifteen years has shown them that isolating these facilities or turning them into indestructible bunkers only reinforces negative perceptions. “If we intend to make amazing public spaces, then we need to start by composing places infused with value, purpose, activity, and delight,” they write. “One can attract all kinds of activity through design, intentionally or otherwise.”

CLIENT Calgary Municipal Land Corporation | ARCHITECT TEAM Peter Sampson (FRAIC), Liz Wreford, Taylor LaRocque, Sean Vandekerkhove (MRAIC), Noel Sampson, Andrew Lewthwaite (MRAIC), Maggie Bonnetta, Samantha Scroggie (MRAIC), Breanne Baydock, Evan McPherson, Paul Susi | LANDSCAPE Public City | STRUCTURAL Entuitive | MECHANICAL AME | ELECTRICAL CGM | CIVIL Aplin Martin | AREA Project area—280 m2; Building area—45 m2 | BUDGET $2.2 M | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION January 2025

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

There is a sense of conviction in the use of the geometry to create a simple volume and a very rational plan, while incorporating a very large and complex program. The play of berm and cutouts is successful in reducing its apparent size, and in allowing activities to relate to the exterior landscape. The resulting distinctive form achieves a harmony with the other stand-alone pavilions in the park. The use of copper introduces a material that is reflective at first, contributing to the sculptural aspect. As the copper ages, it will allow the volume to blend into the park.
–Andrea Wolff, juror

LOCATION Edmonton, Alberta

The new kid on the block—Edmonton’s Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre—aims to play nicely with notable architectural neighbours, while bringing high-performance sport and community recreation together under one roof. Part velodrome and part community athletics hub, the centre is the latest addition to a 35-hectare 1950s city park. 

Three existing buildings surround it. The smallest and most charming is Canada’s first public planetarium (1960). The other two are rock stars. The Peter Hemingway Fitness and Leisure Centre (1967) a cable-stayed icon of organic modernism, resembles a gorgeous, partially collapsed glass tent; originally called Coronation Pool, it was renamed after its architect, in 2005. Douglas Cardinal’s science centre (1984), now part of the Telus World of Science, still looks like a spectral seashell/flying saucer, although additions have made it more earthbound than it used to be.

In this illustrious and assertive company, the sleek, elliptical new Sports and Recreation Centre keeps a relatively low profile. It nestles into three large earth berms that, as the award submission states, “optically reduce the height of the building, allowing the existing projects to maintain their standing in the park.”

Behind this deferential exterior, however, there’s a lot going on. A tunnel linking the new Sports and Recreation Centre to the Peter Hemingway centre enables the two facilities to operate in tandem as an indoor triathlon centre–a unique entity, and a valuable one for a city with very cold winters. Velodromes are highly technical facilities where competitive cyclists race at speeds up to 85 kilometres per hour on steeply banked oval tracks. Integrating a velodrome into a community recreation centre makes political sense because it mitigates the potential for an expensive, highly specialized sports facility to become a taxpayer irritation. What is novel about the new Edmonton facility is that its Union Cycliste Internationale-sanctioned cycling track is positioned a full storey above the community centre’s ground-level infield courts. Below and outboard the cycling track, but also above the recreation centre’s courts, is the four-lane running track. By making the cycling track fully visible from recreational activity levels, the design aspires to generate broader community interest in a sport that has yet to acquire a wide Canadian following.

The open, central community space is divided into two levels, with a flexible ‘urban court’ for informal recreation and gathering below the upper-level basketball courts. Washrooms and change rooms are tucked under the upper-level courts. Stairs, informal riser-style seating, and best of all, two long, shiny metal slides (!) link these two levels. Other indoor amenities like multiple fitness studios, a café, and childcare space further contribute to programming for users of all ages and abilities.

Outside, the landscape design for the new facility expands the range of outdoor activities available at Coronation Park. Still respecting the mature park’s existing context, the refreshed landscape improves wayfinding on a site that became fragmented over time as successive developments eroded the clarity of the park’s original plan.

CLIENT City of Edmonton | ARCHITECT TEAM hcma— Michael Henderson (MRAIC), Darryl Condon (FRAIC), Paul Fast (MRAIC), Michael Rivest (MRAIC), Darin Harding, Derek Harris, Jennifer Sparks, Carter Gallant, Wendy Li, Jasmine Lam, Genevieve Simms, James Kokotilo, Nathan Keebler, Marcus Van Vliet, Alice Rooney, Aaron Bohnert; Dub Architects—Michael Dub (MRAIC), Bobby Harris (MRAIC), Gene Dub, Cass Milford, Stephen Smolski, Ciaran Bonar, Chris Woodroffe, Graeme Haunholter; Faulkner Browns— Michael Hall, Sherief El-Salamani, Paul Rigby, Archie Wang, David Noble, Andrew Parkin, Shirley Lui, Cristina Ubeda | STRUCTURAL Fast + Epp | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL Williams Engineering | CIVIL WSP | LANDSCAPE PFS Studio | AREA 16,500 m2 | BUDGET $150 M | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2026

ENERGY USE INTENSITY (EUI) 122.5 kWh/m2/year | THERMAL ENERGY DEMAND INTENSITY (TEDI) 28.9 kWh/m2/year | GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INTENSITY (GHGI) 49.2 kg CO2e/m2 | WATER USE INTENSITY (WUI) 0.56 m3/m2/year

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

Interventions that recognize the importance of place are key to designing appropriate structures. The Tofino fish pier is just this—an intervention that celebrates the importance of the existing vernacular through minimal contemporary interventions that visually integrate into the collection of constructions. The work is respecting the past, while considering contemporary ways of elevating the existing buildings. The focus on culture and surrounding community further enhances this work, and strengthens its purpose as a part of the heritage of this place.
– Matthew Hickey, juror

LOCATION Tofino, British Columbia

In 2009, the BC Supreme Court recognized the Aboriginal rights of the five Nuu-chah-nulth Nations—Ahousaht, Ehattesaht/Chinehkint, Hesquiaht, Tla-o-qui-aht, and Mowachaht/Muchalaht—to catch and sell all species traditionally harvested within their territories. Since then, Canada and the Five Nations have been exploring ways to develop economic fisheries that benefit First Nations and coastal communities. However, fifteen years later, most T’aaq-wiihak fishermen (that is, those who conduct fishing with the permission of the Ha’wiih, or hereditary chiefs) still lack a physical hub to fully realize the economic, social, and political potential recognized by these Indigenous rights.  

Located within the traditional land (Ha-Hoothlee) of the Tla-o-qui-aht Nation, the Tofino Fish Pier aims to create such a hub, providing a unique opportunity to support Tla-o-qui-aht stakeholders while engaging in the decolonization and adaptive reuse of a colonial landmark. The original fish pier was constructed in 1962 as a prawn and salmon processing facility for the Tofino Packing Company, and later expanded with a large ice plant for filling the storage holds of deep-sea fishing trawlers. Today, it stands as one of the last remaining purpose-built timber ice plant structures on the West Coast.

The project—guided by the Nuu-chah-nulth word k^wisłap, meaning ‘do things differently’— aims to preserve Tofino’s architectural landmark, while creating a safer, more inclusive space for Nuu-chah-nulth peoples. The ice plant is being repurposed as a gathering space and exhibition room for Nuu-chah-nulth artists and events, topped with a First Nations artist residency studio in the former mechanical loft. It will also include a marine research and education wet-lab and Coastal Nations Auxiliary Coast Guard deployment office. Cannery buildings will be repurposed as Nuu-chah-nulth fisheries offices and community spaces for Indigenous marine education, as well as hosting a pop-up seafood café during peak tourism season.

Future phases anticipate the restorative dredging and expansion of the historic basin to reintroduce a marina, the construction of a pavilion for fish landing and grading, and the construction of a new pier to host a seasonal Nuu-chah-nulth Market and to support Indigenous-led marine tourism activities.

The vision for the Tofino Fish Pier is founded on long-term partnerships with Tla-o-qui-aht start-ups and non-profit organizations that uphold Nuu-chah-nulth principles of stewardship and foster community empowerment through promoting traditional values. Overall, the project aims to reappropriate this colonial industrial fishing landmark as a means to support reconciliation with Nuu-chah-nulth peoples, serve underrepresented communities, and celebrate Canada’s diverse heritage.

CLIENT Wolfgang Rieder | ARCHITECT TEAM Michael Leckie, Alastair Bird, James Eidse, Cameron Koroluk, Denon Vipond | CODE McAuley Architectural Consulting Inc. | STRUCTURAL Chalten Engineering Ltd. | MARINE STRUCTURAL Hugh Tuttle Engineering Ltd. | MECHANICAL Avalon Mechanical Consultants Ltd. | ELECTRICAL Archos Engineering Consultants | CIVIL McElhanney Ltd. | AREA 800 m2 | BUDGET $4 M | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION May 2026 (Phase 1)

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT STUDENT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

This project is a sober study of a current trend in church building reuse that is occurring across Canada. The Parkdale People’s Palace illustrates multiple interventions in an existing church and residential building that elevate and expand the program possibilities, while prioritizing food security and strengthening community. The thorough study of “what could be” in the existing spaces is diagrammed in a manner that is visually convincing.
– Matthew Hickey, juror

LOCATION Toronto, Ontario

In recent decades, the decline in use of Canada’s church buildings has highlighted the need for creative approaches to adaptive reuse. This project builds on the existing needs of the South Parkdale community, west of downtown Toronto, to propose the reinvention of a church slated for revitalization into a community food hub. 

Designated a Neighbourhood Improvement Area, South Parkdale demonstrates a commitment to social equity in the face of gentrification. Within the neighbourhood, Bonar-Parkdale Presbyterian Church was selected for its signs of disrepair and intent for revitalization. Inspired by key community directions and community-oriented design precedents, this thesis proposes to add vital social infrastructure to the area.

The project aims to provide a relevant ensemble of spaces and programs that will revitalize the church property, allowing it to become a common meeting ground for community members of diverse ages and socio-economic backgrounds. The plaza invites farmer’s markets, the basement holds a food co-op, and a commercial kitchen accommodates the preparation of meals for large events. Behind the church, an extensive community garden includes raised beds for accessibility. A co-op café fronts the building, while a teaching kitchen and hydroponics area are tucked towards the back.

The existing sanctuary is transformed into a multipurpose atrium, framed by a wood scaffold equipped with elements that maximize flexibility of use. A set of retractable bleachers and stage allow for screenings, lectures, or performances. Retractable lights, rotating ceiling baffles, and shutters can be used to adjust lighting and acoustics. The space can also be used for celebrations, indoor markets, large social dining events, or informal co-working.

The design proposal imagines the potential of a heritage asset in providing crucial social supports to communities—and, by extension, to the city at large.

FACULTY ADVISOR: Lola Sheppard

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT STUDENT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

This project honours rural heritage through a sophisticated, simple and elegant approach. A series of pavilions is anchored by a stone wall that creates a strong axis running parallel to the train tracks and river. The pavilions are designed as separate entities, each with a purpose, and open to the river, adding to the sense of nostalgia. The use of regularly articulated open wood bays provides a warm contrast to the stone screen.
– Andrea Wolff, juror

LOCATION Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, Quebec

Like many rural centres, the Charlevoix village of Petite-Rivière-Saint-François is increasingly becoming disconnected from its heritage. This is due to a variety of factors, including the exodus of local residents following the modernization of rural work in the 1970s, and the tendency for new developments to be out of scale and out of character with the vernacular.

This project aims to restore Petite-Rivière-Saint-François’ built and intangible heritage through a program to protect, preserve, and transmit rural heritage. The project consists of a pair of pavilions, connected by a rubble stone wall that extends across a site between the village’s cliff and the Saint Lawrence River. It runs alongside the visible and invisible axes of the site: a pedestrian lane, the railway, the stream, and the river.

To the north, on a narrow plot bounded by Gérard’s stream, Quay street, the river and a grove, the Mother Pavilion hosts residential spaces for visiting artisans. 130 metres to the south, surrounded by mature trees, the Practices Pavilion provides areas for fishermen, carpenters, and craftsmen to perfect their art, preserving the heritage of ancestral crafts. Large workshops are dedicated to ship building, carpentry, maple syrup production, weaving, and eel preparation—all traditional practices from the region. Rubble stone walls define the main spaces and circulation axis, while large chimneys compartmentalize the rooms and are integral to the program.

As a whole, the project seeks to form new connections between artisans, villagers, and visitors, resensitizing residents to the territorial wealth of the region.

FACULTY ADVISOR: Thibault Nguyen

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT STUDENT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

The jury was delighted by this project’s witty and irreverent reworking of generic elevator spaces in residential buildings. Emphasizing the differences between people’s wants and needs, the design proposes new short-term communal uses, such as moving coffee shops, speed-dating tables, or speakeasies.
– D’Arcy Jones, juror

In the late 1800s, the arrival of the first high-rise buildings was coupled with worries about the inconveniences—and possible dangers—of living far from the ground. To counter these anxieties, the first elevators were created as opulent amenities and social hubs in buildings. They were revered as “ascending rooms” where slowness was embraced as a luxury.

As the demand for taller structures grew, speed and efficiency took precedence, relegating elevators to merely serving as vertical transportation. And yet, elevators remain one of the few places where the otherwise disconnected lives of today’s highrise residents converge, albeit briefly.

Ascending Worlds nods to the elevator’s historical significance and spatial essence, embracing its velocity, scale, and temporality to reveal a realm ripe with social possibilities. The project redefines the elevator as a catalyst for architectural innovation, capable of reshaping communal dynamics within residential towers. 

Ten different elevator prototypes are suggested in the thesis, each taking up the space of one or more conventional elevator bays. The two-elevator-wide Express Café offers residents a chance to grab a barista-pulled espresso on their way downstairs, and exchange greetings with other residents. The multi-level Venue includes a lower storey-stage and comfortable seating on upper balcony levels for acoustic mini-concerts. The one-elevator-sized Matchmaker includes a cozy interior with a small table to set the stage for an intimate conversation between two individuals. If the chemistry is right, either participant can slow down the journey—or conversely, they can also opt to discreetly access the “speed up” or “emergency exit” buttons under the table to bring the blind date to a quick end.

The designs are not dictated by the typical restrictions of vertical transportation, but are shaped by the quality and duration of the potential interactions that our present-day ascending rooms may evoke. Ascending Worlds endeavours to reignite the allure of the elevator, infusing it with newfound vibrancy and significance within our evolving urban landscapes.

FACULTY ADVISOR: Jeannie Kim

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF THE 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT PHOTO AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

There is an honest, direct beauty to this photograph—qualities that seem to be mimicked in the design of the space itself. Without seeming staged, the scene authentically captures a quiet moment in a school auditorium. The composition wonderfully frames the subject matter with the shape of the triangular window mirroring the child and her belongings. I appreciate the “sweet spot” that the photographer has found: they placed themselves close enough to show material details, but are also far enough away to evoke a sense of the overall space.
– Lisa Stinner-Kun, juror

I’m generally interested by indirect, soft light in the pictures I make. Large triangular roof-light chimneys in the pavilions at École du Zénith funnel diffused daylight down into the interior spaces from above, creating moments of delight. Located at the foot of Mont Shefford near Montreal, the school is part of an experimental collection curated by Lab École, an initiative launched in 2019 to review and explore the way primary schools are designed in Québec. The image is from a series commissioned by Montreal’s Pelletier de Fontenay.

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT PHOTO AWARD OF MERIT

This is a sophisticated and transformative photograph of a 1970s building and entrance—an era ubiquitous in our built environment. The shadows are creatively seen and used as part of the composition. The photograph masterfully captures and celebrates the everyday beauty of a humble building material that has been deployed in a subtle way.
– Lisa Stinner-Kun, juror 

St. Albert Place was designed by acclaimed Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal. Cardinal’s ability to create diversity and complexity with a simple, singular material speaks to his commitment to harmony, and his masterful control over form. Through my lens, I sought to show how Cardinal’s careful use of material and form allows the structure to feel both monumental and intimate, offering layers of meaning and a sense of quiet grandeur. This image not only reflects my appreciation for Cardinal’s work, but also my belief in the transformative power of restraint, expertly applied.

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT PHOTO AWARD OF MERIT

A very thoughtful, painterly interpretation of La Tour du Port. The light at dawn helps to create a magical scene, and as the artist states, successfully helps to merge the “feeling of the past and present.” The photograph is a serene confluence of multiple time periods. It is always challenging to photograph wide, landscape views of urban environments in such a way that all of the buildings and structures feel purposefully placed in the frame. But here in this photograph, the multitude of details are all beautifully composed.
– Lisa Stinner-Kun, juror 

Montreal’s new Tour du Port draws on the language of the old port’s industrial past—abandoned grain silos, cranes and elevators. The new tower’s cantilevered platform is set at a height to create a dramatic contemporary frame for viewing the port and the city’s downtown core. I made several unsuccessful early morning visits to the port in the hope of interesting light, before settling on this view to show the conversation between old and new, as well as a sense of new beginnings.

As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazine

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