January 4, 2012

WATERFRONT TORONTO/GH3

The storm water quality facility in the West Don Lands won an Award of Excellence in Canadian Architect’s 2011 awards program.

2011 Canadian top designs recognized in Canadian Architect magazine’s annual awards program

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

Projects constructed in Ontario scored four of the eight 2011 Awards of Excellence in Canadian Architect magazine’s annual awards program.

The awards honour buildings in the design stage. Jurors considered response to the building program, site, geographical and social context and evaluated physical organization, structure, materials and environmental features.

One of only two national award programs devoted exclusively to architecture, the Awards of Excellence have recognized significant building projects in Canada on an annual basis since 1968.

In the winners’ circle were:

— gh3 Architects and Landscape Architects and R.V. Anderson Associates Ltd. for a storm water quality facility in Toronto. The project, undertaken for Waterfront Toronto, will treat urban runoff from the new West Don Lands development. While the project represents state-of-the-art handling and treatment of storm water, the design for the facility enclosure and site “also elevates the spatial role of the infrastructure, evoking other historic infrastructural works whose architectural character has helped define Toronto’s identity.”

— Patkau Architects Inc. in joint venture with Kearns Mancini Architects Inc. for the Fort York national historic site visitor centre in Toronto. The project addresses the natural and historical context of the site, which sits directly beyond the Gardiner Expressway. The centre is part of a plan to revitalize the entire 17-acre site. The project is scheduled for completion in 2012, to mark the bicentennial commemoration of the War of 1812.

ZEIDLER PARTNERSHIP ARCHITECTS/SNOHETTA

The new student learning centre at Toronto’s Ryerson Universityfeatures a dazzling glass facade. Scheduled for completion in January 2014, the project won an Award of Excellence in Canadian Architect magazine’s 2011 awards program.

— Zeidler Partnership Architects in joint venture with Snohetta for the Ryerson University student learning centre in Toronto. The new eight-storey centre will mark Ryerson’s new face on downtown Yonge Street and provide a gateway to the ever-expanding Ryerson community. Featuring an elevated plaza and glass façade with bridges to the existing library, the centre is home to a range of academic, study and collaborative spaces for Ryerson’s students, faculty and staff. Each level will have a distinctive character

— Williamson Chong Architects for Abbey Gardens in Haliburton County. The design team is working with a group of residents to make the county a hub of environmental initiatives and provide a demonstration of what a community can do in response to the challenges of climate change, carbon reduction and greening. Abbey Gardens is the master plan proposal for a prototypical community village. The scheme is centred around distinct built projects.

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