Governor General's Medals in Architecture Awarded in Canada

Among the winning architecture projects are a church, a museum, and two residences.

by Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 5/8/2008

Top architecture talent in Canada was recently singled out by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts for the annual Governor General’s Medals in Architecture. This year 12 projects received a nod through the program, which recognizes "outstanding achievement" in new projects by Canadian architects that positively impact the country's built environment.

Among the list of winners are buildings for higher education, community and cultural centres, a church, a museum, and two residences. The winning projects, notes Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, "make us appreciate the degree to which Canadian architects have transformed the places where we live, work, share culture and come together into a celebration of beauty and human genius."

Winners were selected by a jury of architects: Professor Manfred Sabatke, (Stuttgart, Germany); Pina Petricone (Toronto); John McMinn (Toronto); Anne Cormier (Montréal); and Steve Christer (Reykjavik, Iceland).

An awards ceremony will be held October 16. The complete list of winners is below.

Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto (Toronto) - ArchitectsAlliance & Behnisch Architekten
Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre (Osoyoos, British Columbia) - Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects
Jaypee Institute of Information Technology (Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India) - Le Groupe Arcop
Canada’s National Ballet School Project Grand Jeté (Toronto) - Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects & Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects, Architects in Joint Venture
ROAR_one (Vancouver) - Lang Wilson Practice in Architecture Culture Inc. and Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects, Associated Architects
House at 4a Wychwood Park (Toronto) - Ian MacDonald Architect Inc.
New Canadian War Museum (Ottawa, Ontario) - Moriyama & Teshima Architects, Griffiths Rankin Cook Architects: Architects in Joint Venture
Gleneagles Community Centre (West Vancouver, British Columbia) - Patkau Architects
Winnipeg Centennial Library Addition (Winnipeg, Manitoba) - Patkau / LM Architectural Group
Communication, Culture and Technology Building, University of Toronto (Mississauga, Ontario) - Saucier + Perrotte architects
Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church (Scarborough, Ontario) - Teeple Architects
Trent Chemical Sciences Building (Peterborough, Ontario) - Teeple Architects and associate architects Shore Tilbe & Irwin

From top: The New Canadian War Museum by Moriyama & Teshima Architects and Griffiths Rankin Cook Architects. The Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research at the University of Toronto by ArchitectsAlliance and Behnisch Architekten. Photo credits from top: Harry Foster; Ben Rahn.