DON COCHRAN

The Cornell University Plantations Welcome Center, Ithaca, N.Y., designed by Baird Sampson Neuert Architects Inc. 

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer DCN

The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) has saluted design excellence once again this year, singling out more than a dozen projects for recognition in its 2011 awards program.

For the first time in its history, the association extended entry criteria to include buildings located outside the province designed by Ontario architects.

Opening the awards to national and international projects has encouraged an even greater diversity of the submissions, the association said. One of the winning projects is located in Ithaca, N.Y.

The design excellence awards jury, chaired by former OAA president David Craddock, selected projects that “creatively and effectively” fulfilled five categories: creativity, context, sustainability, good design/good business, and legacy.

A total of 150 submissions were received.

This year’s winners of design excellence awards in the non-residential sphere are:

• 25 York Street, Telus Tower, Toronto. Adamson Associates Architects. The 30-storey office tower, constructed at a cost of $250 million, features future-friendly technology in both building communication systems and tenant environments while setting precedents for energy conservation and environmental leadership.

• Bloor/Gladstone branch library, Toronto. Rounthwaite Dick & Hadley Architects Inc. in association with Shoalts & Zaback Architects Ltd. & E.R.A. Architects Inc. The project involved renovation of a listed heritage facility as well as construction of an addition. A “tired” community library was transformed into a contemporary institution.

• Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa. Padolsky, Kuwabara, Gagnon Joint Venture Architects (PKG): Barry Padolsky Associates Inc. Architects, Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects and Gagnon, Letellier, Cyr, Ricard, Mathieu Architectes. Completed at a cost of $150 million, the revitalization project included 30,000 square feet of new construction.

• Cornell University Plantations Welcome Center, Ithaca. Baird Sampson Neuert Architects Inc. The project, which included site improvements, was completed at a cost of $5.5 million. It incorporates a number of measures designed to achieve LEED Platinum status.

• Department of Psychosocial Oncology & Palliative Care at Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto. ARK Architects + Research + Knowledge Inc. The two-phase project includes both a palliative care centre and a centre for supportive and palliative care. 

TOM ARBAN

Hamilton farmers’ market and central public library, Hamilton, Ontario.

• Hamilton farmers’ market and central public library, Hamilton. Rounthwaite Dick & Hadley Architects Inc. in association with david premi Architects inc. The $13.5 million project entailed a major renovation and addition to an existing downtown dual-purpose facility. Three building facades were reclad as part of the project.

• Humber College Centre for Justice Leadership, Toronto. Gow Hastings Architects Inc. The 18,000-square-foot facility, dedicated to the teaching of forensic science, is housed in a repurposed car dealership. The original façade is shrouded behind a translucent aluminium screen. The project was completed at a cost of $2.7 million.

• Lakehead University, new academic building, Orillia. Moriyama & Teshima Architects. Completed in September, 2010 at a cost of $30 million, the multi-use, interdisciplinary student-centered facility has been designed to achieve LEED Platinum. The facility is the first building on the new 85-acre university campus.

• The Salvation Army Harbour Light, Toronto. Diamond and Schmitt Architects. The seven-storey, flagship facility houses a community church, transitional housing, a residential addictions recovery program and community and family services. The project, in the city’s downtown core, was constructed at a cost of $20 million.

• Scandinave Les Bains Vieux-Montréal, Montréal. Saucier + Perrotte architectes. A historic building in the heart of Old Montreal was converted into a spa at a cost of $4.6 million, reusing the structure of the building.

• University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy, Kitchener. Hariri Pontarini Architects with Young + Wright Architects. Intended to provide the city with a distinctive landmark, the building houses a mix of laboratories, seminar rooms, an auditorium, herbarium, family clinic and a commercial pharmacy.

• Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Ontario Pavilion (Ontario House), Vancouver. Hariri Pontarini Architects. The exterior was animated by an array of continuously up-lit, fabric-wrapped panels and curtains of cable rope, integrated with digitized LED array walls capable of displaying large-scale video and messaging. 

TOM ARBAN

Waterloo Region Museum, Kitchener, Ontario.

• Waterloo Region Museum, Kitchener. Moriyama & Teshima Architects in association with The Walter Fedy Partnership. The new gate way to the Doon Heritage Village, the museum features more than 20,000 square feet of gallery space, community spaces and classrooms, a 115-seat theatre and a dramatic “quilt wall” façade.

The awards will be presented May 20 at a celebration of excellence during the OAA’s annual conference.