2009 OAA Awards

 

The Heritage sock factory at the corner of Wellington and Spadina has been brilliantly re-purposed as a home for a multi-disciplinary design firm — "a creative, flexible high-quality workspace that fosters collaboration and innovation and demonstrates their commitment to sustainable design."

 

The original retail entrance has been reconceived as a public art gallery, connected to the Studio Zone by a double-floor volume, warmed and unified throughout by using reclaimed 500-year-old white pine timbers that had been buried since the 1850s.          

 

The building in the laneway behind 40 Shaftesbury Avenue in downtown Toronto has enjoyed a colourful 120-year history: built in the 1880s as a blacksmith's shop, then evolving into a horse shed, a sculptor's studio and, finally, as the subject of this submission, a single-family home. The architects resolved to "retain as much of the building's existing character as possible."

The house occupies its 78-square-metre site almost completely, so the only exterior space is located in the second-floor courtyard and in the roof garden. The interior spaces gather light and air from vented skylights running the length of the house.

 

2009 Best in Show
The Wychwood Barns project represents the triumph of patience, perseverance, architectural wisdom, sustainable design, community spirit and an enlightened client.
The project incorporates five existing historic streetcar barns, each with a different program theme. Taken all together, the project serves to demonstrate the incredible adaptability and resilience of many of our historic structures, their inherent practical and sustainable design characteristics, while reminding us of the previous life of the building and site and their historical importance to the development of the city.

 

As the focus of a new cultural precinct in the Belleville city core, the library and gallery building has been sited next to the Pinnacle Playhouse. Its main block provides space for galleries, book stacks, and study areas, while its rotunda provides the public functions of a plaza. As both a library and a gallery it is designed to play a significant role in the educational, recreational and cultural life of the city.

 

The jury noted:
The project creates a nice presence for a small city — entirely credible as an urban place-maker. The building feels really warm and enticing. The plan is simple and elegant.

 

Like the Laneway House, this building started as a humble downtown workshop, filling its site from lot-line to lot-line. But since its 1940s beginnings, it had already been re-purposed as a design studio. Now, with careful respect paid to the industrial character of its previous uses, the 3500-square-foot structure has been transformed into an elegant urban courtyard house, weaving interior and exterior space into a warm, wood-accented continuum.

The building is a study in contrasts in a dense urban setting. The exterior façade is impenetrable from the street, but with a courtyard elevation is completely open."

 

Set on a conservative residential street in an upscale Toronto neighbourhood, the Cascade House uses contemporary forms and materials to create a crisp light-filled volume. The house's name is derived from the tall screen of canted, vertically stacked sheets of heavy jagged-cut glass that shimmer emerald green against a backdrop of dark slate tiles. In contrast to the "cascade", a spine wall of black slate acts as a support for the central stair and a thermal wall for the storage and redistribution of heat.

"Simple yet materially rich, Cascade House evokes a casual sophistication, with every detail functioning as part of the overall artistic vision and aesthetic."        

 

"Ireland Park honours the many thousands of Irish immigrants who fled during the Famine of 1847, and the 38,000 who arrived in Toronto that summer, when the city's population was a mere 20,000.

"The Park is greatly defined and enhanced by its surroundings: To the east, five giant former grain silos dwarf the monuments and sculptures of the park, as a reminder of the continued prevalence of hunger."

The jury commented:
This is a really strong project. As a memorial and as art, it is truly stunning.

In consideration of the open-air preference of the club members and in deference to their affection for the previous clubhouse, destroyed by fire in 2003, the architects have created a warm and simple 7600-square-foot structure. Outdoor spaces are comfortable and completely integrate the "venerated aspects of the existing site features, docks, lawn, pool, woods and boat yard."

 

The building incorporates lightness, transparency and the warmth of wood — decking, cladding, furniture and exposed structure — making this a building within which even people who would rather be out sailing are content to linger.

 

Situated at the tip of a long, thin 2.8-acre island on the edge of the Georgian Bay archipelago, this building is exposed to all the fury and glory of the open water.

The cabin is a 1000-square-foot rustic structure, with exposed rafters and re-sawn barn timbers. The architects' goal was to furnish the cottage with only the barest necessities, so that its inhabitants live lightly on the land and fully engage with their surroundings.

Molly's Cabin is familiar, experimental, respectful and assertive. The design challenges the current tendency in the area for extravagant architectural statements, creating a solution that is inventive and sustainable.

 

Peterborough developed from a crossroads, or meeting place, the Health Centre is organized around two "paths", one defined by the main entry and lobby space, the other by the circulation spine. The north-south path passes through the courtyards, echoing the 'Bridges of Peterborough'.

In response to regional geography, the hospital settles into its gently sloping site, while providing a sweeping view of the city and landscape beyond. Building materials — local stone, red brick and corrugated metal siding — express both local geology and the city's industrial roots.

 

Located adjacent to a busy CN rail corridor, the 6,000-square-foot child-care centre provides an exceptional example of a building that triumphs over a very difficult site.

Understanding that the best-designed places for children are those that somehow manage to harness the magic of childhood, the project embraces the railway theme. It is a low-lying, elongated structure that incorporates the railway vernacular, with its 'station'-like appearance and honest materials. As a further expression of its unique locale, a raised exterior play platform and an elevated interior loft overlook the railway corridor, allowing the children visual access to the trains.     

 

The new additions to George Brown College's downtown Toronto campus serve to energize and strengthen the presence of the College by establishing two new open and transparent street addresses in the heart of the city, exposing the school's programs to the outside world. By visually connecting the two projects along Frederick Street, a link is formed that helps to unite the campus and to create a student thoroughfare.

By physically revitalizing the campus, these two new buildings re-energize the area with visible life, showcasing George Brown's culinary students to the neighbourhood.     

 

2009 People's Choice Winner
On an extremely tight site, the architects have managed to weave together a number of existing heritage buildings and modern additions, to create an imposing new judicial complex. The design solution included the difficult task of saving the heritage jail, which previous studies had deemed unsalvageable.

In the words of Capitol Programs Manager Melissa Gordon: The architects were able to work with light and shadow in an extraordinary way. They really understood the importance of craft and materials. The result is respectful of the public and the judicial system. When you walk through this building there is a constant sense of delight.  

 

In Toronto's landmark TD Centre, this luxurious interior renovation combines original artworks, clearly defined architectural elements and a warm palette of colours and materials to create a unique office environment. For the client, the project presented the opportunity to rethink its workplace environment and to expand the firm's leadership and advocacy of contemporary Canadian art and architecture.