Fifteen new buildings in Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Orillia, Montréal, Kitchener, Vancouver, and Ithaca (New York) have been recognized as leading examples of architecture by receiving ‘Design Excellence’ awards. There were 150 submissions and the Jury unanimously agreed on the consistent high level of quality in the 2011 winning projects.

This year was the first time in the OAA Awards’ history the Honours and Awards Task Group extended the entry criteria to include buildings located outside the province of Ontario, designed by Ontario architects. The 2011 entries reflected a number of important aspects in architectural design and practice: an increased effort to address sustainability criteria, innovation when working on extremely tight budgets, and an increasingly collaborative approach in working with clients. 

The 2011 awards will be presented in Toronto on Friday, May 20, at the OAA Celebration of Excellence, hosted by OAA President Sheena Sharp and Master of Ceremonies Wendy Mesley, as part of the OAA Conference, May 18 – 21, 2011.

OAA Awards - List of Winners:

Design Excellence

Telus House Toronto

25 York Street

Toronto

Architect: Adamson Associates Architects

Collaborating Architect: Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co Architects Inc.

Bloor / Gladstone Branch Library

Toronto

Rounthwaite Dick & Hadley Architects Inc. 

in association with Shoalts & Zaback Architects Ltd. & E.R.A. Architects Inc.

Canadian Museum of Nature

Ottawa

Padolsky, Kuwabara, Gagnon Joint Ventures Architects (PKG): 

Barry Padolsky Associates Inc. Architects

Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects

Gagnon, Letellier, Cyr, Ricard, Mathieu Architectes

Cornell Plantations Welcome Center

Ithaca, New York, USA

Baird Sampson Neuert Architects Inc.

Department of Psychosocial Oncology & Palliative Care

Al Hertz Centre for Supportive and Palliative Care

Harold and Shirley Lederman Palliative Care Centre

Toronto

ARK Architects + Research + Knowledge Inc. 

Front to Back Infill

Ottawa

Colizza Bruni Architecture Inc.

Hamilton Farmers' Market and Central Public Library

Hamilton

Rounthwaite Dick & Hadley Architects Inc. in association with david premi Architects inc.

Humber College Centre for Justice Leadership

Toronto

Gow Hastings Architects Inc.

Lakehead University, New Academic Building

Orillia

Moriyama & Teshima Architects

LightSpace 2

Toronto

Baird Sampson Neuert Architects Inc.

The Salvation Army Harbour Light

Toronto

Diamond and Schmitt Architects

Scandinave Les Bains Vieux-Montréal 

Montréal

Saucier + Perrotte architectes

University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy

McMaster University MGD School of Medicine

Kitchener

Hariri Pontarini Architects

Robbie/Young + Wright Architects in Joint Venture

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Ontario Pavilion (Ontario House)

Vancouver

Hariri Pontarini Architects

Waterloo Region Museum

Kitchener

Moriyama & Teshima Architects In Association with The Walter Fedy Partnership

NewLifetime Design Achievement Award:

Eberhard H. Zeidler

Order of da Vinci:

Ranjit Dhar

G. Randy Roberts Service Award:

David R. Murphy

Concepts & Presentations:

Image

Transimage

Award

Reza Aliabadi [rzlbd]

Studio 124-125, 48 Abell Street (After Eviction)

Honourable Mention

Michelle Van Eyk, Intern Architect

Artifact

Echo

Award

Chan Yiu-Bun, Intern Architect

pull.push.slide.pivot.lift.tilt.turn 

Honourable Mention

Dubbeldam Design Architects

Proposals/Concepts

Embedded Boundaries

Award

Liana Bresler, Student

IOD Thunder Bay

Honourable Mention

Brook McIlroy 

The 2011 Award winners were chosen by Juries that included members of the public whose interests and background represent many areas of the Ontario design community: 

Design Excellence & Plachta Award

CHAIR - David Craddock, First Vice-President, RAIC & OAA Past President 

Sara Diamond, President, OCAD University

Michael Totzke, Editor, Canadian Interiors

Janet Rosenberg, Landscape Architect, Janet Rosenberg + Associates 

Concepts & Presentations Awards

CHAIR - Kathleen Sharpe, Executive Director, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund 

Richard Johnson, Photographer, Richard Johnson Photography

Karl Stevens, Partner, Stevens Burgess Architects Ltd. & Project Planning Global Inc. 

Anna Stranks, Past-President, ARIDO GTA Chapter, Senior Interior Designer, RCG Inc.

Order of da Vinci, G.Randy Roberts Award, Lifetime Design Achievement Award

CHAIR - Amirreza Sadeghi, Architect, Habib Architects Inc. 

Sheena Sharp, OAA President & Principal, Coolearth Architecture Inc.

Meg Graham, Principal, Superkül Inc. Architect

Diana Osborne, Architect, Osborne Architect

Additional awards to be announced at the event include ‘Best of Show’, the ‘Michael V. and Wanda Plachta Award’, and ‘People’s Choice’. Voting for ‘People’s Choice’ is available online at www.awards.oaa.on.ca from Friday, April 1 to Friday, April 15, 2011. 

For more information about the 2011 OAA Awards and to purchase tickets, please click here.