WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

I love this idea of the Indigenous program wrapping around—and effectively allowing the First Nations’ program to recolonize—the ubiquitous old 20th-century academic building currently housing the law school. The plan is functionally well integrated with the existing building, but the materials and expression of the new building says: “This is a law school that understands where it is located, and is committed to reconciliation.”

— Michael Heeney, juror

The University of Victoria’s new National Centre for Indigenous Laws (NCIL) is dedicated to the study and practice of Canadian Common Law and Indigenous Legal Orders. Situated on the northwestern edge of the campus, on the traditional territory of the lək wəŋən peoples, the NCIL expands the existing Fraser Law Building and becomes the face of the Faculty of Law.

The design honours its host, the Coast Salish peoples, and welcomes students and visitors from Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities from across Turtle Island and beyond. Its slender, organic form touches lightly upon the land. Trees that were felled for its construction were first blessed by local Elders and then reused as mass-timber columns for the building. Its mass-timber roof slopes upward from the north entrance towards the forest to the south, expanding to the height of treetops. 

The form brings its users face-to-face with the forest. The sloped roof directs rainwater to a new system of rainwater gardens and plantings. At the north, sheltered by a gentle berm, an Elders’ Garden is a site for reflection, ethnobotany, and cultivation of Indigenous foods and medicines. The garden connects to the Small Gathering Space—dedicated to oral knowledge sharing—and the adjacent Indigenous Initiatives, Wellness and Elders’ Suite, dedicated to student care. The sculptural cladding echoes the silhouettes of Coast Salish canoes and paddles. 

At the south end, the building’s atrium and classrooms open to the forest and Learning Deck, where students can enjoy open-air classes. In concert with the goals of the NCIL, alternatives to past colonial approaches to learning space emerged: less hierarchical learning layouts and greater flexibility in space arrangements; learning immersed in nature; equitable access and inclusion across gender, age, and ability; and welcoming informal learning environments. The ideas of “forest as teacher” and “walking the path” come together in the NCIL as a pedagogical tool central to the teaching and practice of Indigenous laws and traditions. The interior circulation path is framed by a “forest of columns” that point-support a CLT mass timber roof.

The project supports the goals of the university’s Sustainability Action Plan. The choice of wood as the primary building material reduces greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration. Further energy savings derive from a high-performance building envelope and highly efficient mechanical and electrical systems.

CLIENT University of Victoria, British Columbia | ARCHITECT TEAM Two Row Architect—Brian Porter FRAIC, Matt Hickey MRAIC, Jacqueline Daniel. Teeple Architects Inc—Stephen Teeple FRAIC, Avery Guthrie MRAIC, Myles Craig, Richard Lam, Josh Rensby, Sahel Tahvildari, Amanda Kemeny, Mina Pavlovic, Chris Qiu. Low Hammond Rowe Architects Inc.—Paul Hammond MRAIC, Howard Kim, Roya Darvish, Jeff Rushton. Past and present members of the NCIL project Steering Committee; Past and present members of the NCIL project Building Committee | STRUCTURAL Fast + Epp | MECHANICAL AME Consulting Group |  ELECTRICAL/LIGHTING/TECHNOLOGY/AV  AES Engineering | ENERGY MODELLING/LEED Introba | CIVIL/TRANSPORTATION McElhanney | LANDSCAPE PFS Studio | ARBORIST Talbot McKenzie | CODE GHL Consultants Ltd. | HARDWARE Allegion Canada Inc. | COST BTY Group | ENVELOPE RJC Engineers | AREA 2,683 m2 | BUDGET $40.65 M | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION Fall 2024

ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 99 kWh/m2/year | THERMAL ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 67 kWh/m2/year | GREENHOUSE GAS INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 1.1 kgCO2e/m2/year | WATER USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 0.32 m3/m2/year

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

The design articulation of how a shared and undervalued community asset has a voice through architectural exploration is so important. In this case, the cut-out pier designed to allow safe swimming—coupled with a series of open and community-responsive spaces including a shaded portal, porches and paths—will create an appropriately scaled, but powerful lakeside public space. — Claire Weisz, juror

I have always enjoyed the romance of walking out on a pier and experiencing that incredible interface between land and water. This project takes the pier typology to a new level, and the architecture allows you to imagine a much wider range of activities on both land and water than what is usually supported by a public pier. The swimming enclosure is particularly wonderful, but the range of events and daily activities imagined and supported by the pier’s architecture is also fantastic. Nelson will be so lucky to have this amazing public amenity. – Michael Heeney, juror

The industries that fuel a community’s growth often isolate it from its best natural assets. In the case of Nelson, BC, boat building and other woodworks-related enterprises—along with the railyards and port that enabled them to flourish—occupied the downtown shorefront along Kootenay Lake in the late 19th and early 20th century. In its manufacturing heyday, Nelson was renowned as the birthplace of the Ladybird, a racing vessel that set the world speed record in 1933. Although the small city’s industrial waterfront subsequently declined, its boom-era infrastructure remains in place, impeding connectivity between the urban core and the lake.

Like the Ladybird, the Nelson Pier project is a community initiative that involves contributions of expertise, supplies, and time from a wide range of stakeholders and volunteers. MBAC, working with SOA as architect of record, leads the redesign of the pier at the terminus of Nelson’s Hall Street, a project whose objective is “to suture city and lake.” Fittingly, the new pier celebrates Nelson’s famously fast old boat: through a Nelson Museum of Art and History outreach program, the Ladybird will be prominently situated on the pier, housed in a glass pavilion.

The existing pier is well situated—Hall Street is one of Nelson’s main urban streets—but was too narrow and mono-functional to be a landmark, four-season community gathering place at the water’s edge. In addition to being a public realm space for strolling and informal gathering, the main, upper section of the new pier can host markets, concerts, weddings and other special events. Its lower section encloses a publicly accessible swim area and allows for boat mooring.

Inspired by how Nelson leveraged its culture of wood manufacturing and wood crafting to design vessels that intensified the joy of being on the water, the design team developed a cantilevered, acutely angled wood canopy as the dynamic focal point that defines the entry to the widened, fully serviced pier and houses programmable space. The canopy has a hybrid wood and steel primary structure, with wood slats that are differently oriented on its inner and outer surfaces. This creates moiré effects when combined with light and induces strategic views and transparencies. Light reflecting off the water adds to the ever-changing interplay of light and shadow.

“As a concept, the new pier is understood as an expanded threshold, creating a series of unfolding experiences between land and water, past and present,” write the designers.

CLIENT The Corporation of the City of Nelson | ARCHITECT TEAM SOA (Architect of Record)—Matthew Stanley; MBAC (Urban Design)—Marc Boutin FRAIC, Nathaniel Wagenaar, Josh TeBokkel, Kalie Widmer, Ashley Ortlieb, Tony Leong, Miriam Navarrete, Fatima Rehman, Richard Cotter MRAIC, Tim Smith MRAIC, Trevor Steckly, Brett Sanderson | STRUCTURAL Fast+Epp, EffiStruc | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL Prism Engineering | GEOTECHNICAL Pennco Engineering, Deverney Engineering, SNC Lavalin | ENVIRONMENTAL Mass Environmental | AREA Project Total: 1330m2; Ladybird enclosure: 41m2; Canopy: 260m2 | BUDGET Withheld | STATUS Under Construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION  March 2024

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

The building reads as an extension of the landscape filled with natural light and the warm hue of mass timber. The simple approach to the roof carried by the galloping mass timber forms is uplifting and peaceful. This is a sublime project. — Omar Gandhi, juror

An active community, the equestrian cultural legacy of the Peoples of Frog Lake, and the land itself combine to create an almost new type of community centre. The open and curved vault is distinctive and approachable, and shows great promise for creating an inspiring shared space for horses and people, under a mass timber structure and atop an earthen floor. — Claire Weisz, juror

For residential school survivors and others who have experienced trauma, connecting with people can be difficult. Frog Lake First Nations, based on prairie land about 210 km east of Edmonton, has long recognized the therapeutic value of horse-human relationships. The Frog Lake First Nations’ Children & Family, Intervention/Prevention Horse Healing Centre offers healing through traditional and modern methods centred on interaction between humans and horses.

The Centre’s program encompasses mental health, victim services, aftercare, a wellness court, cultural and ceremonial spaces, a museum, and activity spaces for children and youth. These are all clustered around a 28-horse stable and 1,150-square-metre indoor riding arena with viewing stands, tack stalls, and an indoor round pen. 

Nestled into the rolling landscape, the Centre rises to the north and transitions down to a lower south elevation. Locally sourced Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) glulam beams, configured in free-flowing curves, support the large, open central span. The building’s organic lines draw a parallel between horses’ tails and manes, and the ribbons that the people of Frog Lake use to articulate dancing and spiritual expression.

Throughout the Centre, even the spaces that do not allow for physical interaction between people and horses offer views of horses, typically with steeds and humans finding themselves at eye level. In the stable, portals allow horses to peek their heads through to socialize with clients and other horses. In their proportions, the meeting rooms and offices overlooking the indoor riding arena from the north echo the dimensions of the horse stalls that line the arena’s south side.

In addition to the Centre, the site houses ancillary buildings, paddocks, pastures, an outdoor riding area, ceremonial grounds, children’s play space, an amphitheatre, and healing gardens.

This project targets net-zero and carbon-neutral status, using passive sun, wind, and water strategies, as well as solar panels and a geothermal loop. The site operates entirely on electricity and generates its own resources: it is not connected to a gas line. 

The natural topography is leveraged to collect surface runoff in a retention pond that functions as skating rink in winter. Decommissioned oil well sites are reclaimed and used as overflow parking lots for large community events and cultural gatherings.

Thin, horizontally staggered, thermally treated cedar planks clad much of the exterior, contrasting with stone collected from the land, which clads the round, projecting volumes of a cultural room and the museum. On the interior, cedar planks, stone, brushed concrete, birch plywood, Corten panels and steel finishing harmonize with soil, sand, wood chips, and horse accoutrements such as wool blankets and leather bridles. The design team states that integral to the Centre’s healing nature is the idea of “embracing what is already there, and celebrating materials that will, in time, become ‘worn in’, and not ‘worn out’.”

CLIENT Frog Lake First Nations | ARCHITECT TEAM Carey van der Zalm, Garth Crump, Rob Maggay, Nina Christianson, Toni Chui, Chandra Domes, Matt Murphy, Karamjit Grewal, Ana-Dora Matei, Andreea Stanica, Alecsandru Vasiliu, Kenton McKay, Vivian Manasc | STRUCTURAL Fast + Epp | MECHANICAL Williams Engineering | ELECTRICAL Reimagine Consulting | LANDSCAPE Katharina Kafka Landscape Architecture | ENERGY Revolve Engineering | AREA 5300 m2 | BUDGET $36 M | STATUS Construction Documents | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION November 2025

ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 74 kWh/m2/year | PROPORTION OF ENERGY FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES 100% photovoltaics | EMBODIED CARBON  450 kgCO2e/m2

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

A masterful composition of texture and natural light, with places for social interaction as well as spaces for repose. The delicate building skin adds magic to an otherwise simple and economical building massing. The juxtaposition of the building massing and large refined spaces with the highly textured landscape approach is magnificent. – Omar Gandhi, juror 

A great contemporary interpretation of Islamic architecture. A refined and simple plan, combined with a restricted palate of materials, has been detailed and elevated into something serene and spiritual that recalls the richness of Persian architecture. I can imagine that the thoughtfully controlled sunlight in the buildings will make the spaces quite magical.
– Michael Heeney, juror

Ismaili Centres mark the community presence of the Ismaili branch of Shi’a Islam in more than two dozen countries throughout the world. Located in the Toronto suburb of Thorncliffe Park, the Don Mills Jamatkhana and Ismaili Community Centre will mark the site of the first Ismaili prayer hall in Ontario, and will also contain a gymnasium, library, food drop-off area, administrative offices, and multi-purpose teaching spaces. Built and supported directly through the contributions of the community it serves, the Jamatkhana will welcome the wider community. The plan divides the building into four quadrants, reflecting traditional principles of Persian garden design, and alluding to this building’s identity as a place for worship, respite, recreation, and community life.

The centre’s Overlea Boulevard site is something of a no-context context: buildings in the vicinity include low-rise offices, strip malls, and a Greek Orthodox church and theological academy. Across the street, a huge, isolated residential tower looms skyward. To the rear, however, the centre will have a lush, forested view of the Don Valley. 

Two principal volumes, bisected by the main entrance, address Overlea Boulevard. The simplicity of these paired forms, clad in a double façade of pierced metal and vision glass, cuts through the surface noise of the site. The volumes reveal and conceal, with a patterned screen inspired by the principles of unity and proportion found in Islamic numerology and geometry. Also intrinsic to the massing and orientation is the particularly Islamic architectural principal of introversion, whereby the face of the building exposed to the street gives way to the revelation of a vibrant and complex social space within.

The central corridor that is visible from the street extends north through the building and is bisected by a secondary east/west corridor. Reflecting the Ismaili emphasis on education, community, and good works, the library (‘healthy mind’) and gymnasium/multi-purpose room (‘healthy body’) flank the main entrance. A visitor continuing north along the central corridor enters the sacred northeast quadrant by passing through the wide, low entrance archway that is the threshold to the expansive, double-height prayer hall.

Conventional materials are sensitively deployed to endow this community-funded project with poetry. On the exterior, the space between the perforated metal screen and the glazing creates light-dappling effects. The strategic direction of natural light extends into the core of the building, with fritted glass roof panels that illuminate the circulation corridors.

The three-storey roof height along Overlea Boulevard drops down to two storeys in the northeast quadrant, allowing for the insertion of a roof garden. The sculptural forms of the sawtooth clerestory skylights that illuminate the prayer hall project up into the roof garden. In plan, this garden is a microcosm of the Jamatkhana itself: a pocket paradise that provides views of the Don Valley ravine.

A spiral staircase rises at the western terminus of the secondary corridor, symbolizing, in its geometric perfection, the divinity’s role as a creation-unifying focal point. This staircase provides a gracious route to second-floor community rooms, third-floor offices, and the roof garden.

CLIENT Imara National | ARCHITECT TEAM Robert Cadeau, Nushin Samavaki, Javier Vitieri | STRUCTURAL The Mitchell Partnership | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL Mulvey & Banani | LANDSCAPE Martin Wade Landscape Architects | GEOTECH Grounded Engineering | ENERGY MODELLING EQ Building Performance | CIVIL LEA Consulting | TRANSPORTATION WSP | ARBORIST Urban Forest Associates | AREA 4,454 m2 | BUDGET Withheld | STATUS Design development | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2026

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

This sensitively inserted addition and the adaptive reuse of these historic institutional buildings is superbly done. Without compromising the integrity of the historic buildings or overly downplaying the new addition, the old buildings become much more accessible and will be given a new life. Brought much closer to the public street, the new entrance is immediately welcoming and brings you into a series of sunlit and generous volumes, despite being largely underground. — Michael Heeney, juror

A brilliant interwoven intervention to the existing campus building which delicately weaves light, texture and material innovation. The overall composition is a masterful palette of natural light, material innovation, sustainable approaches and Indigenous knowledge. – Omar Gandhi, juror

A convincing argument for why using buildings that have outlived their original roles is the value-case of our time, demonstrating why architecture matters. Universal access is made manifest and this forbidding hilly courtyard made newly accessible in this design, which simultaneously brings natural light into the below-grade portions of the project. — Claire Weisz, juror

For over a century, the former Royal Victoria Hospital has been a place of healing the body and mind. Now, McGill University is embarking on a reinvention of the historic site as a place for helping to heal the planet as well. The principal grounds and heritage buildings of the former hospital will transform into one of the world’s leading centres for teaching, research, and innovation, with an explicit focus on sustainability. 

This site occupies a special place in the physical, social, and cultural history of Montreal: first as a meeting place of Indigenous peoples, and subsequently the site of the hospital. The original complex was comprised of a series of architectural pavilions set in a 19th-century landscape, shaped and sympathetic to the dominant sloping topography of the area. Over the years, large new neighbouring buildings and ad-hoc additions obscured the clear circulation and abundant light of the 19th-century hospital. The architecture of The New Vic re-establishes this clarity, beginning with the removal of buildings and additions, to restore the site’s historic connections to Mount Royal. 

In the new architecture, terraced volumes follow the sloping topography and provide lookouts to the city beyond. The cascading roofscapes of the new wings extend the landscape of Mount Royal into an active space for research and gathering. The design team introduces a new pavilion within the historic forecourt, shaped by the three primary heritage buildings. Visible at the forefront of the site, this entry pavilion signals the renewal and reinvention of the Royal Vic as part of the wider McGill community. 

The new architecture is held back from the old, separated by internal courtyards and atriums usually programmed as gathering spaces. Here, new skylights emphasize these voids and bring light deep into the interior, illuminating the richly textured heritage stonework, with bridges connecting the two. A pair of large skylit atriums also defines the major crossroads within the new architecture, centred around opportunities to collaborate and spontaneously engage outside of the labs and classrooms. 

As part of McGill’s Indigenous Engagement Initiative, an ongoing communication and collaboration with the Indigenous community has informed the design. The New Vic project embodies fluidity, diversity, interconnectedness, and inclusivity. The project offers an architecture in dialogue with a heritage legacy, while also supporting the natural and social history of the site and the City of Montreal.

CLIENT McGill University | ARCHITECT TEAM Diamond Schmitt—Martin Davidson (Project Architect, FRAIC), Don Schmitt (FRAIC), Cecily Eckhardt (MRAIC), Matthew Lella (FRAIC), Peggy Theodore (FRAIC), Emily Baxter, Timothy Birchard, Cynthia Carbonneau, Michelle Chan, Mia Chen, Ashley Fava, John Featherstone, Dan Gallivan, Judith Geher, Dennis Giobbe, Michaela Gomes, Zhivka Hristova, Chris Hughes (MRAIC), Dieter Janssen (MRAIC), Victor Lima, Sarah Low, Fiona Lu, Mike Lukasik, Giuseppe Mandarino, Dejan Mojic, Mindy Morin, Nadia Mulji, Iva Radikova, Philippa Swartz, Mike Taylor, Joe Troppmann, Elcin Unal, Valeriia Vikhtinska, Haley Zhou. Lemay Michaud—Lucie Vaillancourt (Project Architect), Louise Dupont, Marco Blais, Cécile Bohrer, Nicholas Léonard, Olivia Ferguson-Losier, Dimitri Kwas, Marie-Pierre Fréchette, Francesca Devito, Rose-Marie Simard, Sophie Clot, Pascale Nadeau, Jessica Moore, Camille Lepage-Mandeville, Fériel Tamizar, Jessica Ménard-Haman, Olivier Dufour, Anne-Marie Bouliane, Geneviève Gingras, Laurent Dieval, Judi Farkas, Solange Guaida, Harold Stephenson, Philip Juneau-Drolet, Alexandre Desgroseillers, Valérie Soucy, Guillaume Boisvert | HERITAGE ERA Architects | LANDSCAPE CCxA | PRELIMINARY DESIGN FACADES CONSULTANT (up to 40 per cent design): Arup | STRUCTURAL/CIVIL CONSULTANT: ARUP / CIMA+ | ELECTRICAL/MECHANICAL Pageau Morel / BPA | ACOUSTICS Aercoustics Engineering Limited | CODE Technorm Inc.| COMMISSIONING TST Energy Systems Inc.| COSTING Turner & Townsend | ELEVATOR KJA Consultants Inc. | ENVELOPE RDH Building Science | LEED/WELL Village Consulting | LIGHTING CS Design | SECURITY RHEA Group | SIGNAGE Intégral Jean Beaudoin | SPECIFICATIONS Brian Ballantyne Specifications (BBS) and Jean-Guy Lambert | STRUCTURAL GLASS ELEMA+CPA | URBAN DESIGN enclume | PROJECT MANAGEMENT DECASULT | CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT Pomerleau | AREA 49,500 m2 | BUDGET $870 M | STATUS Construction Documents | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2028

ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 425 kWh/m2/year | THERMAL ENERGY DEMAND INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 380 kWh/m2/year | GREENHOUSE GAS INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 18.2 kgCO2e/m2/year | WATER USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 0.855 m3/m2/year

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

A simple and refined approach to museum design. The overall massing is lighthearted and creates relationships with the landscape at varying scales and proportions. There is an alternating relationship with light and view between foreground and background which creates visual interest. The interior material palette is refined and not over-designed. The museum recalls the simplicity of an earlier age of modernism in a way that is both soothing and nostalgic. — Omar Gandhi, juror 

This unexpectedly low-key threshold onto the SFU Burnaby campus makes you appreciate the native landscape prior to experiencing the drama of the original Erickson campus. The interior is a simple set of spaces that you can imagine will let the art speak for itself, while also allowing visitors to appreciate the natural setting. — Michael Heeney, juror

The Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum—“the Gibson”—is a gateway project for Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby Mountain main campus. Its location at the arrival plaza speaks to the importance of the facility’s role as a bridge between the academic and local communities. The gallery will serve as an educational resource and venue for collecting and exhibiting art; as well, it will offer a welcoming and easily accessible amenity for the growing, mixed-use community that shares the plaza and neighbouring transportation hub. 

In terms of sustainability, this is a Class A gallery with enhanced air quality systems and controlled acoustics. LEED Gold registered, this low-emission building will be completely electric and connected to BC’s low carbon grid. The structure extends across the site as a series of interconnected spaces all on one level, aligning with the original 1963 architectural vision by Arthur Erickson and Geoffrey Massey. The building establishes a strong connection to nature in materiality and form. Wings of the gallery reach out to the surrounding trees like extended arms of an embrace, with expansive views to the woods and mountains beyond.

The mass-timber framework reinforces this bond to the building’s forest setting. The timber ceiling is both a structural system and expression of its environment. The use of brick reinforces the sense of craft that delineates the building form, which has been sculpted by the trees. Program space includes three formal galleries, a seminar room, a library, two areas for small and large gatherings, an art studio, an outdoor courtyard, offices, a preparation area, and art storage space. 

Floor-to-ceiling glazing creates an open and welcoming presence that reinforces the gallery’s role as a bridge between the university and the community. Upon entering, a large informal gathering space beckons with the warmth and rustic feel of natural materials and a fireplace. The central axis is organized to provide a circulation path that runs alongside the campus ceremonial walkway. In this way, a connection to nature and the outdoors permeates the interior space. Community rooms and a lounge open to the public serve as attractions off the main entrance and blur the line between education and community use. 

The museum’s footprint will occupy roughly one-quarter of the site, leaving the rest to be renaturalized. This amount of green space and the proposed tree canopy encourage a diverse habitat, rainwater management and an outdoor environment to be enjoyed by all. 

The open design, interconnected salons, and large gathering space overlooking the central plaza help assure accessibility and inclusivity. Informed by Indigenous input and knowledge, the design reinforces the university’s commitment to creative experimentation, collaboration, and meaningful engagement.

CLIENT Simon Fraser University | ARCHITECT TEAM Hariri Pontarini Architects (Design Architect)—Siamak Hariri FRAIC, Doron Meinhard, Jaimie Howard, Ladan Nicknam, Lindsay Hochman, Ramin Movasagh, Nasim Marefat, Steve Kang. Iredale Architecture (Architect of Record)—James Emery MRAIC, Denis Gautier, Susanna Houwen, John Viera MRAIC, Hayley Robbins, Tong Zheng, Ilya Dorakhau | STRUCTURAL Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. (RJC) | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL Introba | CIVIL Stantec | LIGHTING Introba | LANDSCAPE Durante Kreuk | ENVELOPE Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. (RJC) | ENERGY MODELLING Scott Construction Group | CONTRACTOR Scott Construction Group | AREA 1,115 m2 | BUDGET $19.25 M | STATUS Under Construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION December 2024 

GREENHOUSE GAS INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 2.73 kgCO2e/m2/year

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

A wonderful, contemporized interpretation of the Vancouver Special using prefabricated components. This systematic approach makes it easy to imagine a wide range of ways to intensify single family lots in ways that can support multiple households. — Michael Heeney, juror

For Leckie Studio, the starting point for a new Vancouver prefabricated housing prototype was a precedent that had gone from being widely built to being widely disparaged. In 1965, plans for what became known as the Vancouver Special could be purchased at City Hall for $65. Initially targeted to immigrant families looking for an affordable modern house that was an off-the-rack fit for Vancouver’s standard, 33-foot-wide city lots, Vancouver Specials whooshed through permitting and could be constructed in less than a month. By the 1980s, these boxy jiffy-builds were so reviled that bylaws were passed to prevent their further construction, particularly in Vancouver’s more affluent west side neighbourhoods, where colonialist heritage was defended as the status quo.

Fast-forward to the present: Vancouver’s housing prices are insane… and it may once again be time to think within the box. But this time around, “gentle densification” is a desired outcome, which lends itself well to a box that can be easily subdivided. Leckie Studio’s Triptych prototype is an adaptable housing system with three possible interior configurations within one standardized 2400-square-foot structure, consisting of three 800-square-foot ‘modules’. The ‘3 Module’ configuration is a standard 2400-square-foot residence; the ‘2+1 Module’ configuration consists of one 1600-square-foot unit (2 modules) with a secondary 800-square-foot unit (1 module); and the ‘1+1+1 Module’ configuration consists of three 800-square-foot ground-oriented dwelling units. Standardized wall, window, door and service locations allow for minimal renovation between the three configurations. An additional 800-square-foot laneway module can be added to further increase density on any urban lot to four units—all ground-oriented. 

“The fundamental key to sustainability in architecture is to create high-performance buildings with adaptable permanence and avoid costly and wasteful demolition,” Leckie Studio states. “In order to future-proof housing and provide adaptability over time, future scenarios must be considered at the time of the initial design and construction—space planning, infrastructure, and construction methodology are all aligned to accommodate the potential future-use cases.” According to the design team’s calculations, Triptych’s prefabricated, component-based approach to construction starts at $400 per square foot. The prototype’s four-unit maximum per lot is compatible with Vancouver’s proposed Simplified Single Family (RS) Zoning Regulations.

To maximize both reconfigurability and usable floor space, Triptych consolidates plumbing, electrical, and mechanical services into vertical spines, minimizing visible services in the exposed ceilings and simplifying the prefabrication process. Prefabricated floor panels, placed between the modules’ demising walls, achieve efficient unit costs and allow for a systematic approach to locating services. In the densest layout, each 800-square-foot unit contains two bedrooms and one bathroom. To ensure a degree of privacy for all three dwellings in the triplex configuration, the centre unit is accessed through the side yard; the entry for one flanking unit is from the street edge, and the other has a rear yard entry. In the lowest density configuration—the three-bedroom-plus-2.5-bathroom ‘3 Module’ layout—the removal/omission of floor panels at the upper floor provides a double-height dining area, while the removal of the additional stairs frees up space for a home office and generous primary bedroom and ensuite.

As was the case with the Vancouver Special, Triptych provides pragmatic answers to the challenges of making low-rise urban housing more affordable and inclusive.

CLIENT Private | ARCHITECT TEAM Michael Leckie, Holden Korbin, Emily Dovbniak, Alastair Bird, James Eidse, Ian lee, Aldo Buitrago | CONTRACTOR/PREFABRICATION CONSULTANT BCollective | STRUCTURAL ASPECT Structural Engineers | BUILDING ENVELOPE Evoke | AREA 223 m2 | BUDGET $1 M | STATUS Construction Documentation | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION Fall 2024

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

An exploration in formal massing, natural light and materiality working within the context of an imagined urban vernacular. It is evident that the end result is the product of a highly intensive formal investigation based on spatial relationships, access to natural light, responses to climate, and relationships to the landscape. — Omar Gandhi, juror

This exploration of space and materials is just the kind of thing that is good to see in small-scale residential work. Lovely graphic representation. — Michael Heeney, juror

When is a dividing wall more than a dividing wall? The Parti Wall conceptualizes the spine shared by two adjoining residences and their respective laneway suites as an armature that works with the context of the block to draw natural light deep into the homes, incorporate a range of outdoor spaces within each property with “different degrees of public-ness,” and create interior, multi-storey ‘nested gardens’ for the two street-facing houses.

Circulation for these proposed multigenerational residences on narrow, downtown Toronto lots is organized into two promenades, one on each side of the central spine. The promenades align in places and bifurcate in plan or in section in others. The northern main house abuts a laneway along its north side. Promenade A provides above-grade entry to this residence and extends up through its levels at the core via a sculptural stair and an elevator. This promenade also extends below grade–under a rear courtyard–to connect the main house directly to the laneway suite. Promenade B diverts around a mature front-yard tree and descends to the below-grade entry to the southern main house. As with Promenade A, Promenade B’s vertical circulation is via a sculptural stair and elevator, both located at the core, and there is a subterranean connection between the main house and the laneway suite, beneath their shared courtyard.

In the project’s hybrid structure, the concrete core containing each residence’s elevator and central stair rises out of the foundation of the shared concrete spine. The lightweight, wood-frame structures that enclose the remaining volumes interlock with the concrete construction.

Unlike a conventional duplex, the residences on either side of this project’s shared spine do not mirror one another: they take different forms because the end-block position of the northern house presents opportunities that the mid-block position of the southern house does not. The laneway running along the north side of the northern house makes possible an interior ‘nested garden’ that rises the full height of the residence along this edge. For the mid-block house, a two-storey nested garden is incorporated at the front: a large oculus in the steeply sloped roof creates a semi-enclosed space on the top floor, and the alignment of the oculus with a circular skylight allows natural light to stream down into the kitchen below.

In both residences, the views that open up to the outside world and from one level to another are carefully choreographed to enhance the experience of living in these homes—and of moving through them. The sculptural skylight nestled into the steps descending into the southern house’s courtyard exemplifies the imaginative attention to detail that characterizes the entire composition: it draws natural light into a sunken dining area and the subterranean passageway that connects the main house to its laneway suite.

CLIENT Houyan Homes and Archic Custom Homes | ARCHITECT TEAM Nima Javidi, Behnaz Assadi, Kyle O’Brien, Larissa Ho, Reilly Walker | STRUCTURAL Moses Structural Engineering | PLANNING Galbraith & Associates | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL/PLUMBING Enocan | LANDSCAPE Behnaz Assadi (Ja Studio) | AREA 858 m2 (480 m2+ 184 m2) | BUDGET Withheld | STATUS Design Development | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2024 (main house), 2026 (laneway suite)

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

The angled massing of this building is so deft in working to handle the big pieces in a recreation program. The resulting volume seems to fit perfectly into its site, while making this building’s interior and exterior spaces both intimate and generous. Seeing real views out from the gymnasium, in juxtaposition with the wood truss structure, is only one example of the moments this building makes for every room and activity within a holistic civic gesture. — Claire Weisz, juror

I especially appreciated the low and canted heavy massing with the bright, rich and warm mass timber interior. The building massing has a civic quality which creates a major anchor in the park, welcoming visitors under its cantilevered entry. Highly considered approaches to sustainability are evident throughout, and have played a role in shaping the building form. — Omar Gandhi, juror

A masterful use of heavy timber in a well-tailored community building.  Particularly compelling section and resolution of stacked uses. Very well executed. — Michael Heeney, juror

In Toronto’s Moss Park neighbourhood, public resources are strained as the community grapples with complex social issues that include homelessness, addiction, and poverty. The John Innes Community Recreation Centre will serve the city with spaces that are flexible, inclusive, and accessible to all. The new four-storey facility will replace an aging and inaccessible building with an inviting pavilion that acts as a gateway to this historic greenspace.

The development of the new Community Recreation Centre goes hand-in-hand with the revitalization of Moss Park, a project guided by input from local Indigenous communities and rooted in the area’s pre-colonial history. Like several green spaces in Toronto, Moss Park conceals a creek that has been buried over time. The central idea of unearthing and embracing this creek’s nonlinear nature forms the core of the rejuvenated park’s concept. It features a food forest, community garden, and other site-specific amenities that emphasize the land’s importance. 

An internal street links Sherbourne Street to Moss Park and serves as a gathering space, reception area, and safety control point. The new building’s woodshop, a community-favourite program from the original building, is situated here to take advantage of the adjacent service yard and visibility from the lobby. This area also includes a SSHA (Shelter, Support & Housing Administration) service desk, lounges, viewing spaces, program rooms, a youth hub, athletics, and administration, all within a timber-lined atrium. Broad canopies at the park and street entrances enhance the internal connection’s role in unifying various site elements.

The building will host Indigenous gatherings, smudging ceremonies, medicinal garden stewardship, and sacred fire events in the adjacent park. Indigenous art will be incorporated onto the grounds and installed within the lofty lobby space.

The base of the façade is clad with robust ultra-high-performance concrete, with similar stone-like panels framing the glazing above. Inside, the porosity allows visibility across distinct spaces, reinforcing a feeling of safety and connection for its users. A second-floor outdoor terrace wraps along the southern edge of the building, providing a secure exterior environment with a rooftop garden. A breakout space at the third floor with direct views to the gym will serve as a gathering space for youth, while a fourth-floor running track will circumnavigate the perimeter.

Situated to take advantage of the diffuse north light, the natatorium and gym are stacked above each other to maintain a tight footprint on the site. The building is designed to meet the requirements of the Toronto Green Standard (v4), as well as the CaGBC’s Zero Carbon Building Design certification. A bubble deck slab and the mass timber structure will significantly reduce the project’s embodied carbon.

This new John Innes Community Recreation Centre will provide skill-building opportunities for community members, while fostering a connection to nature and a path towards improved well-being.

CLIENT City of Toronto: Parks, Forestry & Recreation | ARCHITECT TEAM Principal-in-Charge—Chris Burbidge (MRAIC); Design Partner—Viktors Jaunkalns (FRAIC); Project Architect—Krista Clark; Supporting Partners—Robert Allen (FRAIC), Tarisha Dolyniuk (FRAIC), Andrew Filarski (FRAIC), Ted Watson (FRAIC), Timothy Belanger; Design Team—Andrew Ashbury, Timothy Lai, Melissa Lui, Ricardo Duque, Jonathan Ackerley, Janice Lee, Tianyi Huang, Alexandra Kay Siu, Farhang Alipour, Chenyi Xu. Landscape—Hyaeinn Lee, May Chiang (John Innes Community Recreation Centre), David Leinster, Michael Ormston-Holloway, Donna Hinde, Jennifer Williamson, Malin Christensson, Katie Strang (Park Landscape Architect) | STRUCTURAL Blackwell | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL Smith + Andersen | LANDSCAPE MJMA Architecture & Design (John Innes Community Recreation Centre), The Planning Partnership (Park Landscape Architect) | GEOTHERMAL Salas O’Brien | ENERGY MODELLING Footprint| CIVIL EMC | PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT Saffy| AREA 7,470 m2 | BUDGET $96 M (Construction) | STATUS Construction Documents | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2027

TOTAL ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 197 kWh/m2/year | THERMAL ENERGY DEMAND INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 138 kWh/m2/year | GREENHOUSE GAS INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 7.9 kgCO2e/m2/year

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

This well-resolved neighbourhood library building explicitly wears its commitment to reconciliation on its sleeve with its Indigenous-inspired façade and rooftop programming area for First Nations. We reviewed a large number of projects attempting to acknowledge First Nations, and this one seemed to do so in a particularly comfortable way. — Michael Heeney, juror

This public library takes on the reading of the larger context, and brings consciousness to Indigenous learning and history as a strong connector. There is a balance of readings: the parallelogram patterns are cut out to make windows, and the colour versus natural metal reads equally strongly. The result is a tradition-inspired patterned façade that simultaneously creates a distinct shimmering civic building in a neighbourhood of bungalows. In a clever set of moves, it opens up the corner and its glazing strategy brings people up to the roof. It’s nice to see a relatively energy-efficient and space-efficient building be a maker of memories as well. — Claire Weisz, juror

On Dawes Road in Toronto’s east end, a new 2,443-square-metre library will serve as a focal point to a growing community, offering library resources, gathering spaces, and a connection to nature. Hamilton-based Smoke Architecture, an Indigenous-led architecture practice, has partnered with Perkins&Will, a firm with extensive experience in sustainable design and public buildings. 

Dawes Road and its neighbourhood have a layered history. The area once contained a quarry for local brick manufacturing, a large agricultural operation, and part of a historic trail down to the waterfront and St. Lawrence Market. The project site is within the Treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and is the traditional territory of Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat Nations. Today, Toronto is home to a sizeable Indigenous population. 

Responding to neighbourhood scale, the building sits lower on the site to address the single-family residences while a sloping parapet peaks at the third storey at Dawes Avenue to shelter a generous public plaza. The library occupies the ground and second floors while the community hub and a large roof terrace are on the third.  The journey through the building culminates at the roof garden, where events and cultural ceremonies can spill out onto the garden. 

In collaboration with the Toronto Public Library, City of Toronto, and a range of Indigenous and non-Indigenous community stakeholders, the project team created a design that evokes an Indigenous star blanket, celebrating learning and discovery. The star blanket serves as an architectural metaphor. Blankets have a personality and spirit, communicating something about their maker and the techniques used in their making. Blankets also protect us from the environment, offering a strong analogy to the role of an architectural envelope. The blanket wraps and embraces the building, providing colour and texture and conveying a sense of motion. 

To translate the blanket metaphor into an achievable building system, the design team started with a 1:20 scale physical model and rolls of industrial felt to experiment with folds, wraps and layering. In the final iteration, the front of the blanket remains open and welcoming. Clad in four colours of individually formed zinc panels, the façade was developed through a parametric design process and a close collaboration with a specialized metal fabricator. 

The metaphor of the star blanket is further supported by the articulation of a high-performance envelope with a low percentage of glazed openings. The building will be fully electrified, with a rooftop photovoltaic array to offset a portion of the energy use. A borehole below the building will serve a geothermal mechanical system to lower the peak energy demand. 

A culture grows and evolves through participation. This flexible and open venue will encourage the sharing of stories, the passing of traditions, and the embrace of new voices and experiences.

CLIENT Toronto Public Library | ARCHITECT TEAM Andrew Frontini FRAIC, Eladia Smoke FRAIC, Michael Blois, Linda Neumayer MRAIC, Mikel Calleja, Martha del Junco, Chelsea Jacobs, Shabaan Khokhar, Jennifer Kinnunen, Flora Mouchel, Anna Beznogova, David D’Andrea, Lindsey Furik | STRUCTURAL Entuitive Engineering | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL/PLUMBING The Hidi Group | LANDSCAPE FRP Inc. | AREA 2,443 m2 | BUDGET Withheld | STATUS Tender | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2025

ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 110 kWh/m2/year | THERMAL ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 26.41 kWh/m2/year | GREENHOUSE GAS INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 5.5 kg/m2/year | WATER USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 17.10 m3/m2/year | ANTICIPATED CERTIFICATIONS CaGBC Zero Carbon Building, Toronto Green Standard V3

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

Reflective of our times, we looked at a large number of projects that were designed to serve Indigenous Peoples. Finding an appropriate and functional architectural expression was not always successful. In this case, it is: a new form of architecture consciously emerges from the landscape and looks to Indigenous precedents, and it works well. The resultant building is clearly recognizable, and I expect will become a point of pride for the Indigenous community members using it. — Claire Weisz, juror

Built in the heart of the University of Toronto Scarborough campus, Indigenous House moves the institution into a new chapter of rehabilitating its relationship with Canada’s Indigenous population. 

Indigenous House will provide a home for a mix of academic and social spaces. The program includes offices for the Elders and other  Indigenous staff, dedicated rooms for research and scholarship in areas such as language preservation, spaces for regular and continuing education opportunities, exhibition areas, and gathering spaces. 

The site offers long views over Highland Creek Ravine, one of the region’s many ravines undergoing rediscovery and renewal. In consultation with local Elders, the grounds and surrounding area will be planted with medicinal and other native tree and plant species including a thicket of birch trees, ensuring that the Indigenous House will mature and evolve over time to become a natural and enriching heart of the Indigenous community and the university’s Scarborough campus. 

Inspired by the form of a wigwam, the two-storey building expresses Indigeneity in its construction, aesthetics and engineering. Its distinctive ovoid structure will be composed of expressive curved glue-laminated timber, recalling traditional bentwood construction techniques. The offices and services are situated at the centre of the building, with round gathering spaces anchoring each end. An atrium will draw connections between the two levels while strengthening the round expression of the ceremonial spaces. At the western end of the building, an ascending ramp framed by medicinal plants leads to a second floor viewing deck, overlooking a large outdoor gathering area.

The design team has applied the principles of nature and Indigenous Ways of Knowing to create a highly contemporary building. Sited over what is currently a parking lot, Indigenous House will reach out into the landscape and engage with it in a meaningful way. Its presence will enhance the site with regenerative planting, passive heating and cooling, and spaces designed specifically to support and enhance Indigenous culture and traditions. 

Importantly, Indigenous House will offer culturally appropriate spaces for ceremonies, which are currently lacking on the campus. This building will give Indigenous People a place where they can feel like they belong. More broadly, it will signal the university’s commitment to address fully the findings and recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

CLIENT University of Toronto Scarborough | ARCHITECT TEAM Alfred Waugh FRAIC, Janna Levitt FRAIC, Drew Adams MRAIC, Matthew Hunter, Henry Dyck, Nik Langroudi, Stuart Maddocks, Kevin Martin, Jonah Lewis, Kara Burman, Jake Pauls Wolf, Nevil Wood MRAIC, Marc Ryan, Ben Watt-Meyer, Asuka Kono, Luke van Tol | STRUCTURAL Equilibrium | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL Introba | LANDSCAPE Public Work | CIVIL MTE | CODE LMDG | COST Vermeulens | ECOLOGY LGL | ACOUSTICS Thornton Tomasetti | FOOD SERVICE Kaizen | GEOTECHNICAL GHD | SPECIFICATIONS DGS | SIGNAGE Adams + Associates | AREA 922 m2 | BUDGET Withheld | STATUS Under Construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2024

TOTAL ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 130 kWh/m2/year | THERMAL ENERGY DEMAND INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 71.3 kWh/m2/year | GREENHOUSE GAS INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 6.5 kgCO2e/m2/year 

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

The building utilizes the practical modular building techniques necessary for the North, but introduces colour and setbacks to the massing to make a building that will stand out and welcome the community. The building section, with its clerestory central atrium, pushes the boundaries of what can be achieved in Northern public buildings. — Michael Heeney, juror

An innovative, economical and appropriate approach to building in the North. It’s neither fussy nor wasteful in its response to context and resilience. This will be a cherished building in the community and a centre of social life and activity. It is evident that the positive and exciting achievement of this project is the result of intensive and meaningful community engagement processes. — Omar Gandhi, juror

This building does so much with a very constrained set of design moves. It uses straightforward means to prevent environmental damage and mitigate strong winds for the users, and improves local conditions for passersby. Its bright yellow ramps and entrance walls can be seen in lower light conditions, and set the stage for it to connect to other community assets in this high Arctic city. — Claire Weisz, juror

In Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, the Inuusirvik Community Wellness Hub (ICWH) addresses unique design, programming, and budget challenges with environmental responsibility. 

For its 8,000 residents, the building unites counselling services, daycare, a wellness research centre, a research library, and food preparation and gathering spaces, while helping create a denser and pedestrian-friendly downtown core. The project developed over the course of seven years of engagement with the client, researchers, and daycare staff. The design team engaged with the local client group, led by Gwen Healey Akearok, to discuss form, use, seasonality, and cultural expression. 

Building in the North can generate a huge cost in carbon emissions as well as exorbitant transportation costs. Wherever possible, the design team has specified lightweight materials and panelized products, which are easily assembled with basic equipment. The contractor is a local Inuit-owned operation that supports local construction crews and hires. Hiring local workers encourages skill development within the community and reduces travel costs (both in ecological and financial terms) otherwise incurred by non-local specialists. 

Sitting just below the Arctic Circle, Iqaluit endures an average temperature of -26 degrees Celsius in January to +9 degrees in July, with just over five hours of daylight in winter to 24 hours of daylight in high summer. Like all buildings in the region, the building is elevated on piles to prevent it from melting the ground’s permafrost. In addition, it features an enhanced air-ventilation system to help prevent the respiratory ailments so common in the region. The building is heated primarily by underfloor radiant heating, supplemented by fresh air supply in ceilings. 

Proximity to the land is central to Inuit culture and informs the architecture. The syncopated corrugated-metal cladding is evocative of the shimmering sea, notes Healey Akearok. The box-like massing is inflected with large “scoops” carved out from three of its corners to deflect wind and provide compact “green roofs” of lichen and moss. The tundra roof decks, clerestory glazing and windows bring landscape, light, and views into the building.  

Inside, a wood-sheathed rotunda “drum” space will serve as the heart and hub of the building. Around the double-height rotunda are rooms for counselling, education, and preparation of traditional “country food”—freshly hunted seals and other local wildlife. On the second floor is the research centre, with a conference room, staff offices, and library. 

In all elements of the design, accessibility and openness were key criteria, says Healey Akearok: “We know this will work, and we want to evaluate it so it can be replicated in other communities.”

CLIENT Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre  | ARCHITECT TEAM Lateral Office—Lola Sheppard, Mason White FRAIC, Kearon Roy Taylor; VRA—Verne Reimer FRAIC, Jeff Penner MRAIC, Daryl Holloway, Stephen Meijer, Youchen Wang | STRUCTURAL/ELECTRICAL/MECHANICAL/CIVIL WSP Canada Inc. | AREA 883 m2 | BUDGET $10.2 M | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION November 2023

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT

Among the submissions reviewed by the jury, this project was much discussed as a model for architecture’s responsibility to fragile landscapes. Although its interior space might only serve a private purpose, the drum takes up the minimum space and reduces visual disruption, making its relationship to its landscape not hidden, but minimal. For an exposed area with strong winds, its shape and its solidity are a considered, synthetic response. I appreciate how the project shows respect for the landscape and avoids privatizing it through fences and driveways—instead, you have to walk to the residence, and take a bridge up to where it is resting. — Claire Weisz, juror

On Nova Scotia’s south shore stands El Aleph, a cylindrical home sitting atop an elevated promontory jutting into the Atlantic Ocean. The setting is famously dramatic, with cobblestone beaches exposed to high winds and loud crashing waves—“a terrifying landscape,” in the words of architect Brian MacKay-Lyons. 

The ridge of bedrock on which the house stands provides a strong visual connection between the main house and a guest house, sited half a kilometre apart. The guest house stands on steel stilts on an adjacent sloping site, elevated to align with the primary house. A small boathouse, sited on the banks of a nearby saltwater inlet, completes the trio of buildings on the coastal property. 

MacKay-Lyons was in the Scottish Hebrides visiting a broch—a traditional roundhouse building found throughout Atlantic Scotland—when the client contacted him to enquire about designing a round house. From that conversation, the concept and form of the house emerged.

The 50-foot-diameter house, grounded on a concrete plinth and clad with copper shingles, is defined by two primary openings: the main floor’s covered terrace and a roof deck topped with a perforated screen. These off-setting “bites” out of the cylindrical form create a dynamic composition that responds to the landscape, framing views and creating sheltered microclimates. 

Inside, the spaces are arranged around a wood-lined atrium defined by an exposed steel frame and top-lit by a pair of partially screened skylights. Interior openings into the atrium provide light and visual connections throughout the house. Floating stairs of perforated steel are contained within pie-shaped volumes outside of the atrium, providing discreet access to the upper floors. On the top floor, the library is contained by bookcases that wrap around the perimeter walls.

The client, a literature buff, named the drum-shaped house after a short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges; the Aleph is a point in space that contains all other points in the universe, so that anyone who looks upon it can see everything simultaneously. “The drum is a kind of panopticon,” says MacKay-Lyons. “You can see 360-degree views from the drum. So it’s a place where you can see the ocean wrapping around your whole world.”

CLIENTS John Kim and Paola Panero | ARCHITECT TEAM Design Lead: Brian MacKay-Lyons FRAIC (design lead), Matthew Bishop (project manager), Shane Andrews, Izak Bridgman, Andrew Falls, Tyler Reynolds, Colby Rice, Kelly Cameron, Ben Fuglevand, Isaac Fresia, Lucas McDowell | STRUCTURAL Blackwell Structural Engineers | GEOTECHNICAL Stantec | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Delmar Construction | SURVEY Design Point Engineering & Surveying Ltd. | AREA 539 m2 (gross) | BUDGET Withheld | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION Fall 2025

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT STUDENT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

This is an interesting exploration—by passing an electric current through the salinated water, you both clean the water and use the resulting crystallized structures to reclaim land. The research process evidenced a wonderful kind of multi-disciplinary process. – Michael Heeney, juror

German-American architect, futurist and inventor Wolf Hilbertz pioneered BioRock in the 1970s as a means of growing artificial reefs to benefit coral and other forms of marine life. When a small electric current is passed between underwater metal electrodes in seawater, dissolved minerals accrete onto the cathode—a material such as rebar, for example—encrusting it with a layer of limestone. For his Master’s thesis, Carleton University Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism student Cameron Penney proposed that the heavily salted winter runoff from Toronto’s roads could provide a BioRock growing alternative to seawater, and that the resulting, pollution-sequestering ‘Terrestrial Reefs’ of this concrete-like substance could provide numerous benefits to the city.

Using aquariums as model growing tanks, Penney passed a low-voltage electrical current through scrap metal, along with formed metal and scrap concrete. The process prevents rusting, and the resulting limestone accretion is three times stronger than cement. It is also self-repairing, and its strength increases with age. By conducting interviews with interdisciplinary researchers, Penney learned more about BioRock’s material properties and potential applications. On the negative side, it has a slow growth rate; on the positive, it can be synthesized on an industrial scale, and it can be used to repair concrete at the nano scale.

Penney subdivided the BioRock-deploying speculative design interventions he developed into three categories:

Expansion re-introduces at-risk limestone habitats as a landscape strategy, connecting infill sites with terrestrially growing BioRock. An alvar is a type of landscape in which a thin layer of vegetation grows over outcrops of limestone or dolomite bedrock. The mouth of Toronto’s Don River is a landscape where existing alvars could be helped to flourish through the introduction of BioRock ‘landscape scaffolds’. Here, Penney proposes, BioRock could also be used to create lookouts and sheltered seating areas. 

Production includes a manufacturing strategy for growing BioRock scaffolds within decommissioned water treatment reservoirs to reduce urban salt and carbon pollution. The author cites existing open-air tanks at the Humber River water treatment plant as a place where high-salinity runoff could be purified by serving as a BioRock growing medium, and then released into the river. 

Repair is an in-situ strategy for renewing the crumbling concrete bents supporting the Gardiner Expressway. Here, 3D-printed BioRock cells are monitored growing chambers that cover and re-cap damaged concrete on the Gardiner’s bents. When the monitor indicates that a repair is complete, the cell’s current is switched off. Penney proposes that the cells could contain a lighting component—an extension of the monitoring—a platinum anode growing component, and gas exchange valves. Once the monitoring component has determined that the repair is complete, the lighting can then be used as a street lamp for the Bentway below. With the potential for each bent to have multiple cells attached to it, the process could supply considerable additional illumination to the underpasses.

FACULTY ADVISOR Lisa Moffitt

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT STUDENT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

This is an incredible project—the kind that’s usually done by a big firm of people, rather than a single student. It takes on the issue of violence in landscapes that appear bucolic, and tries to understand where a centre should be, and what it should be. This is twinned with an understanding of the area’s material culture and the experience of how people make things. It’s impressive to see a larger-scale mapping of what the problem is, followed by an exploration of what’s possible, and what kind of architectural vocabulary is appropriate. It’s very hard to get from these big subjects to an argument that works down to the specificity of a brick module, and it’s even rarer to see a student getting to this level of development.
— Claire Weisz, juror

In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, sexual violence against women and children is rooted in a long history of political, security, cultural, economic, and educational vulnerability. The Kushirikiana Architectural Guide explores how architecture—specifically the building process—can help transform the image of women to support the prevention of sexual violence in Eastern Congo. 

In Swahili, “kushirikiana” means to share and collaborate. Gender-based sexual violence can only be resolved if all disciplines commit to a collective effort. Factors that can prevent gender-based sexual violence include gender collaboration, the economic and educational empowerment of women, and the promotion of their leadership skills. The Kushirikiana Architectural Guide offers a platform for cooperation between architects, clients, end users, and organizations working to combat sexual violence against women. The guide follows a development project diary model, which presents guidelines based on the three pillars of prevention and an analysis of the region for each stage of the project. 

Organized in three parts—pre-construction, construction, and maintenance/evaluation—the guide is applied to the proposal of a women’s construction and agricultural centre in Businga, South Kivu province. The guidelines would be applicable for each stage of projects carried out by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in eastern Congo. Collaboration between social workers and architects also is relevant.  

The construction process, through participatory design, can empower women by expanding on these factors. The construction industry can offer new hands-on skills, introduce women to a new trade, and endorse higher responsibilities—all of which multiply their revenue streams. Collaborations between genders during the construction process can elevate the image and social status of women in a male-dominated trade. 

An in-depth material exploration embraces innovation while being grounded in vernacular principles and local resources. This informed the conception of the centre’s envelope tectonic as well as its aesthetic. Programs and landscaping strategies were developed synergistically to extend those impacts beyond the community it is serving. The proposal itself is inspired by wax-printed loincloth, a colourful fabric with printed patterns, produced in Holland. In the province of South Kivu, the loincloth is used by women to transport their goods from one town’s market to another. It is a symbol of pride and a channel for creative expression for women. 

By focusing on a new training model that adapts to pedagogical and gender-specific needs, institutions will achieve better student retention and promote gender equality. The greater inclusion of women in the economic sector will contribute to generational wealth and encourage a new social mentality on education and gender.

FACULTY ADVISOR Émilie Pinard

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WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT STUDENT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

I liked how these drawings were very unconventional, and appreciated the process of exploration to think about third space differently from how it’s normally discussed. This project goes from really explorative drawing to more conventional, but still textured, renderings. I thought this was just a huge amount of work and very original. — Claire Weisz, juror

Colonization and industrialization in Canada have perpetuated an irresponsible use of the Land and the suppression of local cultures, which is environmentally and socially unsustainable. This research project explores how to reframe architectural education to incorporate Indigenous values and knowledge into design practice to help restore balance and sustainability. 

The project is informed by Indigenous teachings that the Land is the first space for learning, and the colonial model of a classroom is the second space. The Third Space proposes a new intermediary space for gathering, making, and learning for architecture students at the University of Manitoba. 

Processes involved in creating The Third Space include:

1) Treading on the Land – Under the guidance of campus Anishinaabe Elder Valdie Seymour, Allah Baksh experienced the Land as a teacher.

2) Seasonal teachings – Multiple conversations and local Indigenous seasonal teachings with Elder Valdie Seymour then defined the program of The Third Space.

3) Speculative drawings – Efforts were made to explicitly demonstrate the inconsistencies and inability of the current school spaces to promote land-based teaching practice, through a series of speculative drawings that acted as a medium to provoke important questions and reveal the qualities that The Third Space considers.

4) Listening to the Land – Listening to the Land involved a new set of tools. The Chladni plate is a metal plate attached to a speaker. When specific sound frequencies are played, the vibrations transfer to the plate, creating corresponding patterns in salt that is spread across the plate. Various recordings revealed the sound of wind during winter, the sound of footsteps on the snow, and in autumn the sound of water from a small lake on campus. These images were instances of contemplation and teachings from the Land.

The research culminated in the design of a gathering space to be used by architecture students for ceremony and learning. However, the underlying premise of this thesis is a questioning of the way we practice architecture. Do we look at materials, Land, water, and animals as relatives or resources? Indigenous Elders do not refrain from hunting, but they give thanks and an offering of tobacco, meat, or another good to the Land before they hunt. The Third Space can become a place for students to be reminded of the need to pay gratitude when we practice architecture.

The Third Space is intended to host events based on the Anishinaabe seasons and ceremonies. The site includes a camping space, a Round House for seasonal ceremonies and other community gatherings, and the Design Lodge that facilitates Land-based teachings through workshop and studio spaces. The ideas and activities involved in Camping Space can form the basis for a design/build course. In winter, students prepare wood needed for camping. In spring, when working outdoors becomes feasible, students learn how to build their camping space and then camp through summer. The Third Space makes place for Elders, ceremonies, the faculty, and the broader community. 

The teachings of Elders, sounds, smells, wind, and other experiences become guiding factors in this reconsidered architectural education. The hope is that The Third Space becomes a place of reclamation, and a place for the students to return to periodically. In this way, it will provide an opportunity for the faculty to build relationships with the larger community of Elders and the Land and to experience their teachings. This learning would then inform the way their students practice architecture when they enter the profession and help shape the way for new generations of students.

FACULTY ADVISOR Lancelot Coar

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