2024 Governor General’s Medals in Architecture
Every two years, the prestigious Governor General’s Medals in Architecture recognize and celebrate outstanding design in recently built projects by Canadian architects. The competition, established by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts, continues a tradition initiated by the Massey Medals in 1950. Here are this year’s winners.
SFU STADIUM
ARCHITECT Perkins&Will
LOCATION Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia
Erickson Massey’s original masterplan for SFU’s Burnaby campus included concrete bleachers in front of the Lorne Davies Complex (LDC)—housing gyms, a fitness centre, and a pool—to provide seating for sporting and cultural events. Deemed too expensive at the time, the seating was never constructed, and the campus has lacked this critical community-building space.
In 2012, the Simon Fraser Student Society passed a vote to collect an annual levy from students to fund the construction of new student facilities, including a stadium. The resulting design takes inspiration from the terraced planes of the original masterplan, and maintains the LDC’s key experiential element of uninterrupted views to the south from its pool deck. The stadium is conceived as a minimal intervention synchronized to the structural rhythm of the LDC, and topped by a canopy that floats above the seats.
The stadium is designed to host events throughout the year, and to be a sheltered public space when not in use. Mass timber panels are both the finish and structure, creating a warm place of welcome to the campus. The seating area has been used as a marshalling space for sports camps, an outdoor lecture theatre, and an informal hang-out space for students. During events, the facility offers a variety of viewing experiences, from formal seats to more casual areas for socializing.
The jewel of the design is the canopy over the central seating area—a structure that seems impossibly thin for the span it covers, and is supported by slender columns that almost disappear in the background. As a minimalist element, it frames clear views to the field, with a supporting structure that sits above the plane of the soffit. The wood surface amplifies the noise of the crowd, enhancing the spectator experience and providing inspiration to the players.
Jury Comment :: The jury appreciated the quiet and clear response of the SFU Stadium project to its context and purpose. The main architectural feature of the project is the canopy that shelters the stadium seating. The design’s simplicity was well executed and was an elegant choice given the context of the brutalist backdrop of the Lorne Davies Complex Building. The jury noted the efficient use of materials including CLT and the handsome honest detail of the structural approach. In a time of excess, the SFU Stadium illustrates restraint and elegance that will no doubt remain functional and beautiful for many decades to come.
CLIENT Simon Fraser University | ARCHITECT TEAM Max Richter, Abu Benjaman, Paul Cowcher, Nic Dubois-Robitaille, Jana Foit, Bojana Jerinic, Horace Lai, Sarita Mann, Gavin Schaefer, Elsa Snyder, Kim Stanley, Laurence Renard | BUILDING ENVELOPE Perkins&Will | STRUCTURAL Fast + Epp | MECHANICAL Introba | ELECTRICAL WSP | CIVIL Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd. | CONTRACTOR Chandos Construction | CODE GHL Consultants | A/V IBI Group | SUSTAINABILITY Perkins&Will | AREA 2,776 m2 | BUDGET $21 M | COMPLETION June 2021
GROW
ARCHITECT Modern Office of Design + Architecture (MODA)
LOCATION Calgary, Alberta
GROW is a 20-unit housing project in the inner-city neighbourhood of Bankview, Calgary. It’s also an urban farm: its zigzag sloped roof is topped with 0.6 acres of rooftop gardens that act as a place for residents to meet, walk the dog, and get a breath of fresh air.
To further support social interactions across generations and demographics, GROW’s rental units suit a range of ages and family sizes, including small (42 square metre) studios, medium-sized (56 square metre) condos, 1.5-storey lofts, and large (79-93 square metre) two-storey townhomes. This arrangement potentially places a retired couple next to a young family with children, or a single student next to a young professional, building resilience and social connections through proximity.
The development’s formal strategy evolved from its restrictive setbacks and steep slope, with six metres of elevation change from the northwest to the southeast corner of the site. The architects responded by placing the parkade at grade, pushing units at the rear of the building up to create a terracing effect that provides equal access to light and view for all of the units. Offsetting the terraced bars opens up the development’s generous outdoor amenity space.
In most multi-unit buildings, the only opportunities for social interaction occur in shared corridors and at the mailboxes. At GROW, residents can participate in all facets of the rooftop garden, which is managed by a local, not-for-profit urban farming collaborative, or simply enjoy spending time in the outdoor space. Trust is built through the shared ambition to cultivate and care for a resource that benefits the community.
Lead architects Ben Klumper and Dustin Couzens describe the development as “unusual in Calgary, where private/speculative development drives housing provision, and cost-cutting takes precedence over community growth.” But, they add, “if GROW’s approach […] were to become more prevalent in our inner-city communities, and we were to focus on building social capital in tandem with real estate capital, we could create more equitable, inclusive and diverse inner-city urban spaces.”
Jury Comment :: GROW creatively reimagines the typology of a multi- unit residential complex and offers a much-needed new take on collective living. The jury praised the project’s form, program, and organization as a sensitive response to its suburban context. In particular, the clever sculpting of the topography of the ground and the roof levels provides the building with an animated communal stepped garden. The jury also recognized the significance of the project’s contribution as a new case study to the “missing middle” housing crisis.
CLIENT Andrei Metelitsa | ARCHITECT TEAM Dustin Couzens, Ben Klumper, Nicholas Tam, Cara Tretiak | INTERIOR DESIGN Modern Office of Design + Architecture (MODA) | LANDSCAPE Modern Office of Design + Architecture (MODA) | URBAN FARMING CONSULTANT YYC Growers (Rod Olson) | ENERGY MODELLING EMBE Consulting Engineers (Moortaza Bhaiji, Paul Caicedo) | ENVELOPE/SUSTAINABILITY Williams Engineering (Hillary Davidson) | CIVIL Richview Engineering (Robin Li) | STRUCTURAL Wolsey Structural Engineering (Danny Wolsey) | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL TLJ Engineering Consultants (Kevin Vig) | BUILDER RNDSQR + BMP Construction + Signature Properties | AREA 1,806 m2 (Interior) / 856 m2 (Exterior-Urban Farm) | BUDGET $4.78 M | COMPLETION July 2020
PUMPHOUSE
ARCHITECT 5468796 Architecture
LOCATION Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winnipeg’s historic James Avenue Pumping Station was slated for demolition after 14 failed attempts to revive it. Taking on a role outside of the usual scope of architects, 5468796 Architecture developed an unsolicited conceptual design paired with a financial pro forma, and presented the business case to an existing client. This combination eventually led to the building’s successful preservation.
Two design interventions made the project financially viable: repurposing the capacity of original gantry crane rails to suspend a floating floor above the preserved pumping equipment below; and building a residential block on the 13-metre-deep sliver of land between the historic building and Waterfront Drive. A larger residential building was also placed on the opposite end of the pumping station.
In the completed project, the pumping equipment remains in its found state, free of complicated programming. Above, a flexible office floor plate opens fresh views of the equipment, enhanced by floor-to-ceiling glazing. New skylights pierce the roof, bringing natural light deep into the expansive space.
Materially, the upper level of the pumping station is grounded in the straightforward, industrial quality of the place. Steel studs and stiffening bars are repurposed as supports, allowing for thinner glazing, reducing embodied carbon by half, and increasing construction speed and affordability by removing the need for specialized installers.
The residential blocks are offset from the existing building, creating new laneways that respect the original pumping station envelope, reference the human scale, and expand the ground floor commercial frontages. Barrier-free access points are nestled along these paths, and the massing makes room for an outdoor amphitheatre, a number of public plazas, and a pair of footbridges suspended between the residential blocks and the heritage building.
The mid-rise residential buildings bookending the site have Nail Laminated Timber (NLT) technology composing the floors and ceilings, nodding to the Exchange District’s century-old warehouses. Rethinking the norms of multi-unit residential design, they include a skip-stop configuration and open-air egress. The vibrant exterior passageways act as sites for neighbourly interaction and encourage a sense of shared ownership over communal space. Open-air stairwells provide unobstructed vistas to the city, park, and river.
Blending historic revitalization and sustainable development, this multi-faceted, mixed-use development has brought back a historic structure using practical innovation, and gained the support of heritage advocates, neighbouring residents, and the community at large.
Jury Comment :: The jury noted the excellence of this sensitive and convincing rehabilitation, which demonstrates a deep understanding of the site’s potential and qualities, proposing adapted programs and additions integrated into the logic of the existing elements. Using the load-bearing capacity of the gantry crane rails to support a new floating floor frees up floor space and highlights the architectural qualities of the building and the industrial equipment as artifacts of the former use. The densification of the site with two new residential buildings ensures the feasibility of the project. The jury also appreciated the way in which the apartments are distributed by external walkways, offering to each of them double exposure and through-ventilation.
CLIENT Alston Properties | ARCHITECT TEAM Emeil Alvarez, Pablo Batista, Brandon Bergem, Ken Borton, Jordy Craddock, Donna Evans, Ben Greenwood, Ralph Gutierrez, Johanna Hurme, Ainsley Johnston, Jeff Kachkan, Stas Klas, Lindsey Koepke, Matthew Kurtas, Kelsey McMahon, Colin Neufeld, Sasa Radulovic, Anika Thorsten, Matthew Trendota, Shannon Wiebe | LANDSCAPE Scatliff + Miller + Murray | INTERIORS 5468796 Architecture | STRUCTURAL Lavergne Draward & Associates | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL/CIVIL MCW Consultants | ENERGY Footprint | CODE GHL Consultants | SURVEYOR Barnes & Duncan | CONTRACTOR Brenton Construction Corp. | AREA 7,108 m2 | BUDGET $22 M | COMPLETION December 2023
NEIL CAMPBELL ROWING CENTRE
ARCHITECTS MJMA Architecture & Design | Raimondo + Associates Architects
LOCATION St. Catharines, Ontario
Located in the Port Dalhousie community of St. Catharines, Ontario, Henley Island and its two-kilometre racecourse on Martindale Pond have been the epicentre of Canadian rowing since 1903. The site has hosted the yearly Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and rowing competitions for Olympic Trials, the Pan Am Games, and World Championships.
The new Neil Campbell Rowing Centre (NCRC) continues Henley’s tradition as a venue for elite competitions, while also serving as a year-round training centre for athletes. The project demonstrates how simple, elemental, and respectful design can support a broad spectrum of uses, while also achieving both Net Zero-Energy and Zero-Carbon Emission benchmarks.
Built on a gentle promontory, the NCRC reconfigures a previously ill-defined staging area. Its signature mass timber roof is topped with photovoltaic panels, and uses Canadian glue-laminated (GLT) and cross-laminated timber (CLT) products. It is supported by a light steel column structure and a centralized service core. Steps running down to Martindale Pond serve as seating, but also allow spectators and children to dip their toes in the water. The facility rests on 15-metre-long screw piles that extend down to bedrock.
The biased and overhanging roof, extensive glazing, and steps to the racecourse give the NCRC a striking visual identity. Its linked interior and exterior spaces offer ample space to host events. With its sliding doors open, it becomes a pavilion—a central space for viewing races and gatherings.
The building’s design inverts the opacity of the typical boat shed and introduces aspects of the glass house, reimagining these traditional typologies to create a new functional and social amenity that elevates the experiences of athlete and spectator alike.
Jury Comment :: The Neil Campbell Rowing Center illustrates how a powerful singular gesture against a natural backdrop delivers a flexible program in a beautiful, restrained manner. The jury appreciated the clear construction and use of mass timber, Passivehaus envelope detailing, PV array and other sustainability features as well as the architect’s ambition to meet Zero-Carbon and Net Zero-Energy aspirations. Although programmatically relatively simple, the design is well considered to ensure that the simplicity was rigorously executed.
CLIENT 2021 Canada Summer Games/Canadian Henley Rowing Corporation | ARCHITECT TEAM MJMA—Robert Allen, Dan Kronby, Tyler Walker, Ted Watson, Tarisha Dolyniuk, Tim Belanger, Andrew Filarski, Matt Lamers, Monica Leung, Timothy Lai. RAIMONDO + ASSOCIATES—Emilio Raimondo, Brad Augustine, John-Alexander Raimondo, Jeff Visentin, Brennan Klys, Carrie Rose | INTERIORS MJMA Architecture & Design | STRUCTURAL Blackwell | MEP Smith + Andersen | CIVIL Upper Canada Consultants | SUSTAINABILITY Footprint | CONTRACTOR Aquicon Construction | AREA 527 m2 | BUDGET $7.2 M | COMPLETION February 2022
CHURCHILL MEADOWS COMMUNITY CENTRE AND SPORTS PARK
ARCHITECT MJMA Architecture & Design
LOCATION Mississauga, Ontario
Located in Mississauga, Ontario, the Churchill Meadows Community Centre and Sports Park transforms a 50-acre former agricultural field into a richly textured park centered on a pavilion-like building.
The Community Centre is ringed by extensive glazing, and its entrance elevation is clad in white standing-seam metal, modulated with bold faceting that opens up the building’s form towards approaching visitors and the sky above.
Interior spaces are arranged into two bars running the building’s length. The eastern bar holds the changerooms at grade, with a teaching kitchen, multi-purpose rooms, and a fitness area on the mezzanine level above. To the west, a wider bar houses the triple gymnasium, lobby, and aquatics hall. Here, the sculptural ceiling’s inverted peaks diffuse natural light from a series of sawtooth skylights, with an overall effect evoking serenely lit caverns.
In the lobby, a generously proportioned switchback stair provides clear wayfinding to the mezzanine level, and allows for views to the pools, gym, and park.
The fully glazed park-facing elevations to the west and south boast a striking exterior canopy that extends and makes visible the building’s mass timber structure. The canopy is clad in an expanded aluminum mesh that protects the wood from the elements, while filtering light to mitigate glare inside the lobby, pool, and gym.
MJMA also completed the park’s masterplan and the design of the park’s initial phase, allowing for an exceptional programmatic and formal integration of community centre and park. The building is set diagonally with respect to the urban grid, with its four elevations facing each cardinal direction, and the playing fields and courts are aligned with it for optimal solar orientation. Parking areas are pushed to the north and south ends of the site, so that park and building can occupy an uninterrupted car-free zone. The park includes a covered walking track that rings the building, and sports fields and courts spread across a landscape whose gently rolling hills, made from soil reclaimed during building excavation, offer elevated seating and viewing points. At virtually every point inside the building, the facility’s primary program spaces are transparent to the outside. The experience throughout is accompanied by panoramic views through the array of glulam columns into the park.
Jury Comment :: The Churchill Meadows Community Centre and Sports Park is a welcome addition to the community of Mississauga, Ontario. With the Community Centre at the heart of the design, the building creates spaces of safety, accessibility, and equity for all users. The scale and massing of the building creates a new landmark in the suburban landscape, with the expression of materials and structure being key. A nuanced understanding of light and transparency between the inside and outside creates a delightful play of shadow and light.
The jury was taken by balance between sensitivity and pragmatism, the consistency of concept and detail, and the durability of the execution.
CLIENT City of Mississauga | ARCHITECT TEAM David Miller (FRAIC), Chris Burbidge (MRAIC), Tyler Walker (MRAIC), Ted Watson (FRAIC), Tarisha Dolyniuk (FRAIC), Tim Belanger, Andrew Filarski (FRAIC), Robert Allen (FRAIC), Obinna Ogunedo, Leland Dadson, Kris Vassilev, Darlene Montgomery, Jasper Flores, Caleb Tsui, Natalia Ultremari, Jeremy Campbell, Caileigh MacKellar, Kyung-Sun Hur | STRUCTURAL Blackwell | MEP Smith + Andersen | CIVIL EMC Group | LANDSCAPE MJMA Architecture & Design | SUSTAINABILITY Footprint | INTERIORS MJMA Architecture & Design | GRAPHIC DESIGN/SIGNAGE & WAYFINDING MJMA Architecture & Design | CONTRACTOR Aquicon Construction | AREA 6,827 m2 | BUDGET $51 M | COMPLETION September 2021
KING CITY LIBRARY AND SENIORS CENTRE
ARCHITECT Kongats Architects
LOCATION King City, Ontario
Stretching out like an open hand, the King City Library and Seniors Centre is a multigenerational community hub: a place to meet, share stories, exchange knowledge, and access information.
Kongats Architects was initially retained to investigate the program and feasibility of a facility that would replace the existing library. The study and its public consultations identified the benefits of a shared public library and seniors centre as a place for community building, and a configuration that could realize operational savings.
The resulting building is centered on a welcoming core, whose intimate, wood-lined study rooms contrast with glazed, light-filled reading rooms that offer views to the surrounding landscape. Program areas across the two-level building include a senior’s centre with flexible event spaces, collaborative meeting zones, a digital media and ‘make-it’ lab, exterior reading balconies and patios, and dedicated areas for adult collections, local histories, children and teens.
The entry from King Road was re-envisioned as a welcoming public space, where the curved façade of the building symbolically embraces community markets, book fairs, and barbeques. Elements of the interior spill out to entice potential patrons. Sustainability initiatives are also interwoven throughout the site and building: stormwater is managed on site through bioswales, natural daylighting is provided to all occupied areas within, and operable windows allow for cross-ventilation.
At a moment when libraries are perceived to be under threat from a shrinking public realm on one side and digitization on the other, the King City Library and Senior’s Centre creates an innovative and vital “third space” that is neither home nor work. It’s a place where the community benefits from intergenerational learning and making, and has wide access to well-curated information.
Jury Comment :: The King City Public Library and Seniors Centre provides a multi-generational community hub for residents of King City that integrates two vital urban functions—an urban social space and a seniors’ centre. The jury noted the social and cultural value of the combined program. The jury discussed the contextual approach, material detailing and the sustainable strategies which included bio-swales, natural daylighting, natural ventilation and optimized heating and cooling systems.
CLIENT King Township | ARCHITECT TEAM Alar Kongats, Paul Dolick, Paula Prada, Carolanne Bedard-Reid, Adam Troter, Stephanie Leboeuf | STRUCTURAL/ MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL/AV/IT WSP | CIVIL MGM | LANDSCAPE Brook McIlroy Inc. | COST A.W. Hooker & Associates Ltd. | AREA 1,951 m2 | BUDGET $10 M | COMPLETION September 2020
GARDEN LANEWAY HOUSE
ARCHITECT Williamson Williamson Inc.
LOCATION Toronto, Ontario
Facing a service lane in the west end neighbourhood of Roncesvalles, Toronto, the Garden Laneway House reimagines the possibilities for small-scale urban densification.
The four-bedroom home accommodates a family of five, and its ample spaces and light-filled rooms counter the stereotype that laneway homes have limited space and unappealing sightlines, and lack privacy.
The house was designed to feel like a primary home, clad in a rotated brick façade that brings beauty to the laneway. The front door is recessed under a carport canopy clad in charred cedar, ensuring privacy from the cars that access the garages surrounding the home. Inside, the house’s program is flipped upside-down from a typical home. The primary suite is on the lowest floor and enjoys a large lightwell, the teenagers’ bedrooms are on the ground floor, and the living spaces are on top. A skylight above the stairwell ties together the levels, and the main living area and rooftop deck enjoy picturesque views of the neighbouring treetops.
Material innovation maximizes the interior space. The use of a cold-formed steel joist system increased ceiling height by four inches on each level and left room to run the services directly through the supports, eliminating the need for dropped ceilings. Smart home lighting and zone-specific radiant heating and cooling systems enable the house to run efficiently, while providing an added level of comfort for the family, achieving a TEDI of 27.50 kWh/m2/yr.
This project provides inspiration for how laneway and garden suites can allow property owners to unlock value in their backyards, while encouraging increased density in well-established neighbourhoods.
Jury Comment :: Nestled between garages and an alley, Garden Laneway House is a true gem, with whimsical yet quiet architecture that more than compensates for the site’s lack of context. In an often-overlooked typology, the jury was delighted by the effectiveness and efficiency of the space layout, complemented by the strategies implemented by the design team to achieve the project’s spatial qualities such as the views and natural lighting. This project is exemplary in its approach to small-scale urban densification. The jury was also impressed with the overall quality of its construction and details, particularly the beautiful brick facade providing a playful texture contrasting with the banality of the laneway.
CLIENT Suzanne and Jeff Wilkinson | ARCHITECT TEAM Betsy Williamson, Shane Williamson, Javier Huerta, Dimitra Papantonis, Steven Chen, Nassim Sani, Christina Vogiatis, Silas Clusiau | INTERIORS DESIGN COLLABORATION Suzanne Wilkinson Interiors Inc. | CONSTRUCTION Jeff Wilkinson, Wilkinson Construction Services Inc. | STRUCTURAL Atkins + Van Groll, faet lab | MECHANICAL McCallum HVAC Design Inc. | AREA 214 m2 | BUDGET $1.25 M | COMPLETION May 2022
31 SCARSDALE ROAD
ARCHITECT Suulin Architects Inc.
LOCATION North York, Ontario
31 Scarsdale Road is an adaptive reuse of a warehouse and office complex in Don Mills, Toronto. The original light-industrial development was part of the area’s modernized approach to the Garden City. Over time, the complex became an ungainly assemblage of three buildings. It included a one-storey warehouse built in 1962, a one-storey rear warehouse/showroom added in 1977, and a two-storey front office/showroom added in 1985. These additions were joined, but functioned and appeared as separate, disparate buildings.
Together, the architect and client created a brief to unite the parts into a cohesive whole, while balancing the technical aspects of sustainability with the cultivation of social spaces. The rear building would receive a second-storey addition and be converted into the client’s headquarters. The other two buildings would be modernized and subdivided into tenant spaces that celebrate the contemporary workplace with natural materials.
The project was designed to LEED Platinum standards, though it was not certified. An early decision to retain and expose the structure of all three buildings minimized the amount of new construction and associated embodied carbon. The existing structure of steel and precast concrete provided the basis for the added layering of new materials. At the rear second-storey addition, exposed Douglas Fir decking softens the existing open-web steel joists. The front building’s precast cladding was stained to integrate with the new precast concrete panels at the back, which were made with a high fly-ash content.
The new workspaces were organized around two new light-filled interior courtyards, which allow for sunlight and views to the surrounding pine trees. The central atrium in the middle building connects four tenant spaces, providing a circulation hub with generous, light-filled common social spaces. In the rear building, a similar double-height atrium with a feature stair is an expansive connecting space, surrounded with breakout spaces and adjoining a cafeteria with a rooftop deck. Energy usage is reduced through passive design elements, such as the wood fins and deep canopies.
Coupled with the continuity of natural light, these architectural features knit the buildings into a harmonious whole, and create a new sense of place and connection, while paying homage to the building’s industrial origins. As industrial mid-century buildings reach the end of their life cycle, this project is a valuable case study in how these buildings can be adapted to meet current needs, while raising the bar on building sustainably.
Jury Comment :: The jury appreciated 31 Scarsdale Road foremost for its important recognition that the preservation and renovation of existing building stock is one of the most important choices societies can make when considering sustainable building. Putting forward sober means and passive bioclimatic strategies, the project is well executed with straightforward details that create a light-filled environment.
CLIENT Withheld | ARCHITECT TEAM Amy Lin, James Chavel, Andrew Hart, Valerie Arthur | STRUCTURAL Blackwell | MEP BK Consulting | ENERGY MODEL Technosim | AREA 3,989 m2 | BUDGET Withheld | COMPLETION February 2017
THÉÂTRE DE VERDURE
ARCHITECT Lemay
LOCATION Montreal, Quebec
The Théâtre de Verdure is an iconic venue in the heart of Montreal’s Parc La Fontaine. The original amphitheatre and modernist stage opened in 1956, but was shuttered in 2014 due to obsolescent equipment.
To bring art back to the centre of the park, the venue required a complete overhaul. The vision for the new Théâtre de Verdure is based on the relationship between landscape and architecture, and the dematerialization of architecture to showcase the site, making art and culture accessible and visible to all.
The new theatre is built on the footprint of the previous structure, with the stage delicately placed on an island at the end of the park’s artificial lake, and the stones from the old theatre salvaged for sitework. The approach to the theatre has been completely reworked, with multiple access points from which the stage gradually appears through the trees. The theatre’s 2,500 seats are set in tiers within a natural amphitheatre.
From the stage, the curtain opens to a theatre set against the backdrop of landscape—sober, modern, dynamic—in harmony with the historic memory of the place and Montreal’s unique cultural identity.
All of the theatre’s elements are embedded in the landscape, from its stage and backstage to its lake-view dressing rooms, storage rooms, control room, reception, rest areas, and green room. Support functions are carefully concealed under the seats, and multifunctional service areas extend out towards the park, enhancing the heritage character of the site and inviting exploration both inside and outside this urban oasis.
In line with the City of Montreal’s sustainable development policy for buildings, the design aimed to promote general well-being, while having a minimal impact on the environment. The theatre’s existing canopy was preserved, and local species were selected for new plantings.
When the stage lights come up, theatre takes on the scale of the landscape as the performance resonates out and into the park, and art and place come alive together.
Jury Comment :: The redevelopment of Montreal’s Théâtre de Verdure has breathed new life into Parc La Fontaine and created a public amenity which is positively contributing to the urban landscape of the city once again. The building becomes a theatrical play in itself, with the observer becoming an active participant in the way one experiences the journey through the park, with glimpses of and through the building. The idyllic setting is enhanced by the theatre being set on the water. This creates the illusion that the building is delicately floating, creating transparency and capturing views of nature beyond. The well-considered laying of materials and lightness of structure makes this project a delight to experience and a sensitive addition to the park.
CLIENT Ville de Montréal | ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE TEAM Eric Pelletier (MRAIC), Maria Benech, Marie-Eve Parent, Valérie T. Gravel, Yanick Casault, Marc-André Lemaire-Perreault, Maryse Ballard, Arnaud Villard, Francois Ménard, Jean Deslauriers, Eric St-Pierre, Philippe Lafrance, Daniel Smith, Alejandro Mendoza Vazquez, Donald Lavoie | LANDSCAPE Lemay | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL Bouthillette Parizeau | STRUCTURAL Calculatec | CIVIL Marchand Houle | THEATRE Trizart Alliance | LIGHTING Ombrages | FORESTRY Nadeau Foresterie | CONTRACTOR AXE Construction | AREA Site—7,825 m2; Building—635 m2 | BUDGET $11.5 M | COMPLETION June 2022
PROMENADE SAMUEL-DE CHAMPLAIN PHASE 3
ARCHITECT Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker
LOCATION Quebec City, Quebec
The recently concluded third phase of the Promenade Samuel-De Champlain, completed fifteen years after the inaugural phase by the same design team, offers a continuation of the design language, while evolving to provide distinct and enhanced visitor amenities.
The site transforms what was previously a desolate expanse of highways and rail corridors into an urban boulevard with a significant recreational and cultural riverfront. The primary goal of the project was to return the river to the people of Quebec. The architectural vision embraced a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach, encompassing all scales from the masterplan down to urban furniture and signage.
Drawing inspiration from the area’s history rooted in the timber trade and shipbuilding, the architectural language centres on wood. Phase 3 also includes an urban beach that is open and accessible to all, reminiscent of the beloved Plage du Foulon that animated the area in the previous century.
The design of the beach area’s Pavillon des Baigneurs is composed of two elongated rectangular volumes. The first volume, in granite, extends from the curvilinear beach wall, while the second, fashioned from wood, sits atop the granite base, offering panoramic views of the landscape. The strategic use of high-performance glass blurs the boundaries between interior and exterior, while the interior’s white wood pays homage to the sunny character of coastal locales.
A seamless connection is created between the infinity pool swimming area, the shallow Mirror of Water, and the river, offering the illusion of bathing and strolling within the river’s embrace. A sandy beach and sea lyme grass plantings contribute to a resort-like landscape, tailored to the unique character of the waterway.
Flanking the beach, the promenade unfolds with areas including picnic platforms, gardens that mimic the coastal meadows, a dockside trail that highlights a restored marshland, and architectural elements such as the Pavillon de la Côte, the Frontenac Quay, and the Pavillon de la Voile. Biodiversity was restored to this neglected area with the planting of 1,055 trees, 28,950 shrubs, and 117,000 native herbaceous plants.
The outcome of this multidisciplinary effort is a project seamlessly woven into its environment—and a place that has been a resounding success among visitors. The Promenade Samuel-De Champlain is a source of collective pride and identity, offering users a meaningful, enjoyable experience while making positive contributions to public health, ecology, biodiversity, and climate action.
Jury Comment :: The Promenade Samuel-De Champlain – Phase 3 project continues the requalification of the riverfront on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, in front of Quebec City. Initiated fifteen years ago, the project has enabled the transformation of a heavy industrial zone bordered by traffic infrastructures.
The jury appreciated the clarity of the architectural intentions, their sobriety, and the remarkable quality of execution of the interventions. The architecture takes full account of the river landscape and engages in dialogue with it. The jury underlines that only the collective support of a strong development vision, endorsed and supported by successive governments over time, has enabled the coherent and integrated realization of such a major urban project, which the population has rapidly embraced.
CLIENT Commission de la capitale nationale du Québec (CCNQ) | PROJECT MANAGER Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) | LEAD DESIGNER (ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN, LANDSCAPE) Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker—Réal Lestage, Eric Lizotte, Caroline Beaulieu, Lucie Bibeau, Grégory Taillon, David Gilbert, Mélissa Simard, Luca Fortin, Maria Benech | ARCHITECTURE Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker | CONSORTIUM – LANDSCAPE Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker, Option aménagement et Williams Asselin Ackaoui | PARTNER Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable | ENGINEERING AtkinsRéalis, WSP, Tetra Tech | PROCESS ENGINEERING François Ménard | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Pomerleau | CONTRACTORS Construction BML (Station de la Côte, station de la Voile and Boulevard); Construction Deric (Station de la plage, mirror of water and the swimming area); Construction Citadelle (Pavillon de la Côte and Pavillon de la Voile); Bauvais & Verret (Pavillon des Baigneurs) | AREA 150,000 m2 (Promenade) + 1,200 m2 (Buildings) | BUDGET $135 M | COMPLETION July 2023
ÉCOLE DE L’ÉTINCELLE, UN LAB-ÉCOLE
ARCHITECTS Agence Spatiale – APPAREIL Architecture – BGLA Architecture
LOCATION Chicoutimi, Quebec
Located in the Chicoutimi district north of Quebec City, the École de l’Étincelle exemplifies architecture rooted in its context. The design reimagines the conventional school as a welcoming, accessible environment for children. Built to resemble of grouping of vernacular house forms, the design aims to create a reassuring and familiar home-like atmosphere.
Inside, the school is divided into three distinct sections. The section facing the street houses administrative offices on the ground floor and kindergarten classrooms on the garden level, linking the youngest students directly to the playground.
The central section redefines the traditional library as a community learning hub. This area is designed to be open to locals outside of school hours. In the middle, bleachers serve as gathering and collaboration spaces. To one side, the Creative Lab is a maker space equipped with the latest technology. On the other end, the Culinary Lab is a place where produce harvested from the school garden can be cooked and shared with students and the community.
The final section, containing classrooms, is articulated as three smaller peaked-roof houses, each an intimate mini-school for a single grade. Collaborative spaces at the centre of each classroom cluster mimic public squares to encourage mutual support and teamwork. Sunlit interstitial spaces connect the houses and open to the courtyard, inviting informal gatherings.
The Chalet, a distinctive element of the program, is a space for children with special needs. It includes a small living room, kitchen, and dining area, providing a safe space for discussions, building trust, and developing social skills.
The landscaping extends spaces for learning and discovery beyond the school walls. Designed with the area’s northern location in mind, the U-shaped layout creates a microclimate with a sports track, an outdoor classroom, a vegetable garden, individual and group play zones, and a sheltered area for use during inclement weather. The design encourages free, open-ended play by enhancing the site’s natural topography with mounds and surfaces for climbing and sliding.
Jury Comment :: Stemming from the new Quebec elementary school program, which is based on the development of spaces that enable a diversity of learning activities and promote collaboration, the École de l’Étincelle proposes an original solution, organized around the courtyard. The jury notes the interest of this organization, which favours intuitive orientation for children wherever they are in the school, and offers, on the first floor, a direct relationship between each classroom occupied by the youngest pupils and the outdoor space. The scale of the building, divided into modules reminiscent of a house, contributes to the children’s sense of ownership and comfort. The jury salutes the substantial use of wood (structure, exterior cladding, interior finishes, integrated furniture), which gives the school a strong identity and helps reduce its carbon footprint.
CLIENT Commission Scolaire des Rives du Saguenay | ARCHITECT TEAM Stéphan Gilbert (BGLA), Kim Pariseau (APPAREIL Architecture), Étienne Bernier (Agence Spatiale), Lydia Lavoie (BGLA), Marc-Olivier Champagne-Thomas (APPAREIL Architecture), Johanie Boivin (previously with Agence Spatiale), Jérôme Duval (Agence Spatiale), Pascal Drolet (BGLA) | CONTRACTOR AMEC Construction Inc. | ENGINEERS LGT (now WSP | LANDSCAPE Collectif Escargo + Rousseau Lefebvre | ENVIRONMENT/SUSTAINABILITY Martin Roy & Associés | MEP Pro-Sag Mechanical Inc | ARTIST Mathieu Valade | AREA 3,577 m2 | BUDGET $16.75 M | COMPLETION March 2023
CABOT CLIFFS: CLIFFS RESIDENCES, HALFWAY HUT, AND PRO SHOP
ARCHITECT FBM Architecture | Interior Design
LOCATION Inverness, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Located on the rugged west coast of Cape Breton Island, Cabot Cliffs is among the most celebrated golf destinations in the world. The design of the walking-only links course, by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, is profoundly sensitive to its dramatic landscape, and to the experience of topography, views, vegetation, and wind, in tandem with the game itself.
The architecture at Cabot Cliffs echoes this sentiment with its relationship between landscape, building, and human play. This begins with sensitivity to the historical and cultural context of the area. The region was once home to extensive coal-mining activity; the demise of the coal industry destroyed the livelihood of the town and left a contaminated landscape. The Cabot golf courses (Links and Cliffs), and the associated tourist economy, have brought employment to the region. New development at these courses bolsters the community’s resilience by creating a year-round construction industry. Wood construction is very much a part of the vernacular of rural Cape Breton, and this material selection allowed the buildings to be constructed from local products, by local tradespeople.
The brief for the project was to design eight seasonal holiday homes with four-to-five-bedroom suites, a Halfway Hut to provide refreshment along the course, and a Pro Shop. Additional buildings, including two-to-three-bedroom homes, a restaurant, and a thermal bath, are to be added in the future.
To allow for the seamless addition of these future programs, an incremental and adaptable approach to the architecture was adopted. A kit-of-parts of typological forms was developed, comprising single-storey gabled sheds, bedrooms, and kitchen/living/dining rooms, joined together by flat interstitial roofs.
In the first phase, these forms are arranged in various combinations and orientations, creating unique dwellings that sit playfully on the site while remaining similar in materiality and scale. Cedar shingle walls and galvalume roofs scatter across the sand dune and fescue grass landscape. Black masonry fireplaces punctuate the horizon, providing cozy spaces to watch the course while linking the earth to the vast sky. The planting around the homes, considered an extension of the links landscape and part of the larger ecosystem, uses drought-tolerant fescue grass to reduce the need for intensive irrigation.
The houses’ interiors offer a rich spatial experience, where the corridors linking spaces expand into full-height gabled volumes that bring daylight into gathering and sleeping spaces. The communal kitchen/living/dining areas create dynamic social spaces, while each home is oriented to provide privacy with doors and windows that open to refreshing ocean breezes and decks.
The modern aesthetic of the homes underscores the idea that a large house can still feel like an airy seaside cottage and, when combined, they create a village at the edge of the ocean.
Jury Comment :: The jury noted the contextual response and materiality, as a refreshing departure for this landscape-driven recreation residence. The simple wood vernacular traditions of Cape Breton aligns with the dramatic landscape. The jury also noted the social connections offered by the communal kitchen, dining and living areas, which allows this village to go beyond typical recreation properties. The result is an architecture that is rooted in the place, offering a connection with the natural setting – complete with natural pathways and views to the ocean. The sustainable approach includes regional construction that employed local craftspeople, vernacular plantings to control erosion and low irrigation plants. The jury also noted the innovative kit of parts assembly that can be replicated to support incremental growth.
CLIENT Cabot Links at Inverness LP | ARCHITECT TEAM Susan Fitzgerald, Peter Kolodziej, Kaitlyn Labrecque, Alicia McDowell, Stavros Kondeas, Rita Wang, Stephen Hewitson, Ben Griffiths, Shawn Doyle, Danny Goodz | STRUCTURAL BMR Structural Engineering | CIVIL Strait Engineering Ltd. | MECHANICAL CBCL Limited, MCW Consultants Ltd.| ELECTRICAL MCW Consultants Ltd. | CODE Gerard Donahoe, RJ Bartlett Engineering Ltd. | LANDSCAPE Outside! Planning & Design Studio | MASTER PLANNING Ron Krater Studio | INTERIORS Jill Greaves Design Inc. | CONTRACTOR Lindsay Construction, D.J. MacLean & Sons Contracting Ltd. | GEOTECHNICAL Janega Engineering | AREA Accommodation—2,275 m2; Halfway hut—57 m2; Pro shop—200 m2 | BUDGET Withheld | COMPLETION October 2023
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