April 24, 2012

SHAI GIL

The Sister of St. Joseph Motherhouse in Peterborough, Ontario, designed by Teeple Architects Inc., provides “unique” solutions for the needs of modern-day nuns.

Ontario Association of Architects awards honour design, innovation

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) has honoured the best in architectural design and innovation in its 2012 awards program.

In the design excellence category, 15 new projects were recognized. Submissions were judged on a variety of criteria including sustainability, creativity, legacy, good design/good business and overall context.

Winners in the nonresidential sphere include nine projects in Ontario. Four are in the greater Toronto area while three are in Ottawa. The others are in Waterloo and Peterborough.

Bay Adelaide Centre — West Tower, Toronto: WZMH Architects.

The signature 51-storey modernist tower pays homage to the “distinctive character” of the architecture of Toronto’s financial core. The tower’s highly transparent base “seamlessly incorporates” the historic façade of the National Building. The estimated $300 million project has achieved LEED Gold status.

James Bartleman Archives and Library Materials Centre, Ottawa: Shoalts and Zaback Architects Ltd. & Barry J. Hobin and Associates Architects Inc.

Designed to achieve LEED Silver, the 95,000-square-foot facility provides space for an extensive range of research and public functions. A public courtyard links the building to a future transit station.

WILLIAM P. MCELLIGOTT PHOTOGRAPHY

The Ottawa Convention Centre, designed by bbb Architects Ottawa Inc., is meant to project “ a bold and stunning” image.

Ottawa Convention Centre, Ottawa: bbb Architects Ottawa Inc. Designed to project “a bold and stunning” image, the contemporary centre houses 120,000 square feet of column-free exhibit space across three floors, a ballroom offering panoramic views of the city and a combination of fixed and flexible meeting space over two floors. The project is a LEED Gold candidate.

Rideau Canal skateway chalets, Ottawa: CSV Consultants Inc., Architects.

Steel-and-wood skate change shelters have been designed to be hoisted into place each season at four busy nodes along the canal. Strict size and weight restrictions applied.

Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse, Peterborough: Teeple Architects Inc.

Deemed a “unique” solution to the spatial, programmatic and social needs of modern-day nuns, the environmentally friendly convent features a contemporary design. Functional and welcoming spaces are efficiently laid out, have low operating costs and minimal environmental impact.

Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo: Teeple Architects Inc.

The $25.6 million, 55,000-square-foot project was designed to “respectfully complement and enhance” the existing research institute. Classrooms, offices and formal presentation rooms are equipped with the latest IT infrastructure.

TIFF Bell Lightbox, Toronto: Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects.

The $140 million, multi-purpose structure combines a five-storey podium building for the Toronto International Film Festival with a 42-storey condominium tower in the heart of the city’s media and entertainment district. The podium and tower are “harmonized” through a common language of scale, proportion, materials and details.

SHAI GIL

Kongats Architects designed the Terrence Donnelly Health Science Complex in Mississauga, Ontario

Terrence Donnelly Health Sciences Complex, Mississauga: Kongats Architects.

The complex, at the University of Toronto Mississauga, accommodates teaching and research facilities for three primary user groups with “distinct, space, adjacency and identity requirements.” The $25 million project has been designed to achieve LEED Gold.

Vaughan City Hall, Vaughan: Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects.

Phase 1 of a master plan “to create a civic heart in a suburban context,” the city hall has been designed in an L-shape. Each wing features a central atrium, oriented to maximize daylight exposure. LEED Gold is being targeted.

The submissions for design excellence awards were judged by a five-person jury chaired by architect Adrian Smith, a partner in Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.

The 2012 awards will be officially presented May 11 during the association’s annual conference in Ottawa.

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