Canadian Architect May 2015 by Annex Business Media

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2015 RAIC AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE 9 NEWS

Canadian projects recognized in the 2015 Architizer A+ Awards; Waterfront Toronto announces winner of the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park competition.

49 CALENDAR

Lost Spaces exhibition at Calgary City Hall; DX Design Auction in Toronto.

50 LOOKING BACK

Place Bonaventure, Montreal’s concrete behemoth, epitomized the euphoric optimism of the mid-1960s, according to Tanya Southcott.

22 2015 ROYAL ARCHITECTURAL INSTITUTE OF CANADA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE This prestigious biannual awards program continues to distinguish practitioners, volunteers and those in professions closely allied to architecture.

CAROLINE BERGERON

COVER A cluster of lights from Bocci’s 28 series collection, designed by Omer Arbel, winner of this year’s RAIC Allied Arts Award. Photograph by Hartmut Nagele.

V.60 N.05 THE NATIONAL REVIEW OF DESIGN AND PRACTICE/THE JOURNAL OF RECORD OF ARCHITECTURE CANADA | RAIC

CANADIAN ARCHITECT

MAY 2015

LEFT North Design Office’s finalist entry to the Memorial to the Victims of Communism competition incorporates existing topography and trees—a more costconscious approach than the winning design.

NORTH DESIGN OFFICE

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

VIEWPOINT

EDITOR ELSA LAM, MRAIC ASSOCIATE EDITOR LESLIE JEN, MRAIC EDITORIAL ADVISOR IAN CHODIKOFF, OAA, FRAIC CONTRIBUTING EDITORS ANNMARIE ADAMS, MRAIC DOUGLAS MACLEOD, NCARB, MRAIC REGIONAL CORRESPONDENTS HALIFAX CHRISTINE MACY, OAA REGINA BERNARD FLAMAN, SAA MONTREAL DAVID THEODORE CALGARY GRAHAM LIVESEY, MRAIC WINNIPEG LISA LANDRUM, MAA, AIA, MRAIC VANCOUVER ADELE WEDER

FAIR GAME? How did the Memorial to the Victims of Communism (see CA, February 2015) balloon from a $4-million project, covered mostly by private funds, to a project that by some estimates now exceeds $40 million? Some of the answers may be found in a close examination of the competition. In public-sector competitions, cost should be an important factor in the jury decision. The RFQ for the project states, “Experts in conservation, engineering and costing will review the Qualified Proponents’ design concepts contained in their Proposals and provide technical comments to the Jury of Experts.” The provision for a costing expert was dropped in the RFP stage—an out-of-the-norm decision for projects of this type. The fact that the jury was not availed of costing expertise is evident from the wideranging scope of the finalist proposals. The selected scheme covers about half of the 5,000-square-metre site with built form. It includes two large structural concrete elements: a viewing bridge, and a multi-storey-high folded plate, finely textured into graphically treated one-centimetre squares and finished with a self-cleaning surface. By contrast, the other schemes are relatively modest—reflecting perhaps a more realistic idea of what may be built within the given budget of $3.2 million for construction and professional fees. One scheme consists mostly of a landscaped garden, while others deploy taller sculptural elements strategically and selectively. These competitors took the question of cost seriously, and budget was an important factor in shaping their designs. I spoke to one competitor who, in a debriefing, was told that certain elements of their design were not prominent enough for the jury’s liking. In fact, the design team had scaled down those very elements to meet the budget. On the day that the shortlisted proposals were juried, the news emerged that the government had quietly agreed to provide $3 million in taxpayer dollars to the project—doubling the $1.5

million it had earlier pledged. The organizers said that the extra money would act as a contingency fund or endowment. In spite of this generous contingency, juror Shirley Blumberg estimates that the winning entry would well surpass the original budget, costing $6-$9 million to build. Even with significant value engineering, it would be difficult to build a structure of this scale and level of finish at the stated budget. The running tally of project expenses must also take into account the costs sunk into designing the federal court building originally intended for the site. This is no castle in the sky: the design had been finished with complete working drawings, ready for tender, when it was put on hold in 2004. Detailed designs—whether executed or not— are serious investments of time, thought and energy. The architect for the justice building was paid. The six competitors for the memorial, for their part, received a $10,000 honorarium that only partially defrays costs. Two teams I spoke to each recorded spending in excess of 650 hours on their proposals. All competitions are a calculated gamble—but entrants expect a fair evaluation of their efforts. When a detailed cost breakdown is part of the submission, the evaluation should include an independent evaluation of these costs. Beyond the construction and fees, the biggest expense for the project, ultimately, will be theMember of land it sits on. The site that Public Works has donated, that they claim is worth $1 million, has been valued by an independent real estate assessor at up to $30 million. If the monument is in fact built, a future government will perhaps come to recognize that the site is far too valuable to be used for a monument. They might consider taking up the onerous task of moving the built memorial. It would be a fitting final twist to this labyrinthine saga.

Inc.

Elsa Lam

ELAM@CANADIANARCHITECT.COM

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PROJECTS

Thomas Balsley Associates and Scott Torrance Landscape Architect have been selected to design the new Aitken Place Park in Toronto. Part of the ongoing revitalization of the East Bayfront precinct, the waterfront park will be a critical component in the establishment of a new vibrant water’s-edge community, both a vital amenity to area’s residents and a destination for waterfront visitors. The design team, comprised of leaders in their respective fields, brings together a wealth and diversity of experience and expertise in award-winning design, waterfront innovation and sustainability. Recognized as one of the premier designers of urban parks, plazas and waterfronts throughout North America, New York-based Thomas Balsley Associates will bring their unparalleled public-realm design experience to serve as the lead designer for the project. Scott Torrance Landscape Architect will act as the executive landscape architect providing critical local knowledge and contextual understanding of the site and surrounding community. Situated in the heart of the emerging East Bayfront neighbourhood called Bayside, 0.75-acre Aitken Place Park will serve primarily as a neighbourhood amenity and is envisioned as an intimate and comfortable green space for local residents who use it day to day while being flexible enough to support spillover from events on the inner harbour and adjacent retail. With a mix of active and passive spaces, it will offer recreational opportunities for young children as well as quiet places to relax, enjoy nature and take in the lake views. Park construction is expected to begin in spring 2016, aiming to be open for summer 2017. David Chipperfield to redesign Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Modern and Contemporary Art Wing.

Global firm David Chipperfield Architects (DCA) has been selected to develop a new design for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Southwest Wing for modern and contemporary art, and for adjacent galleries for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. The announcement followed a year-long research and selection process led by a committee of the Museum’s Board of Trustees. Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Met, said: “We based the final selection of an architect on three criteria: vision, experience and com-

GREG RICHARDSON

Thomas Balsley Associates and Scott Torrance Landscape Architect selected to design Aitken Place Park.

ABOVE The Moore Studio in Hubbards, Nova Scotia by Omar Gandhi Architect Inc. was announced as the winner of the Atlantic Residential Project category in the Atlantic Wood Design Awards. The simple and iconic form of the house is inspired by the local vernacular of the gabled roof.

patibility. David Chipperfield’s global architectural experience and sensibility, along with his commitment to the collaborative aspect of creating architecture, make him a perfect partner on this milestone project. His museum projects are brilliantly coherent, elegant and accessible—from the Neues Museum in Berlin to Museo Jumex in Mexico City, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and the Hepworth in Wakefield, England. The goal in our work with David and his team is to take a giant leap forward in the presentation of modern and contemporary art at the Met within the broader context of our collections across different cultures and more than 5,000 years of history, and to be able to better tell the multiple narratives of the art of our time. The project will run concurrent with the Met’s installations in the Marcel Breuer-designed building that formerly housed the Whitney, allowing us to regenerate our permanent spaces in the Met’s main building while maintaining a vibrant program for modern and contemporary art just blocks away.” www.metmuseum.org

AWARDS Canadian projects recognized in the 2015 Architizer A+ Awards.

Now in its third year, the Architizer A+ Awards is the definitive global architectural award program with 90+ categories and over 300 judges. Over the last two years, with their

partners the WSJ Magazine and The Webbys— they have created the biggest award program for architecture in the world, with a global audience exceeding 100 million viewers and over 200,000 public votes. The A+ Awards consists of three categories. The Typology categories celebrate traditional building types, while the Plus categories recognize the link between global issues and the structures that society builds. Finally, the Product categories acknowledge that symbiosis between products and building. In the Health Care & Wellness subcategory, Grotto Sauna by Partisans was the Popular Choice Winner. In the Pavilions subcategory, Vermilion Sands by Matthew Soules Architecture was also a Popular Choice winner, receiving a special mention in the PopUps + Temporary subcategory as well, and placing as a finalist in the Architecture + Materials subcategory. In the Architecture + Engineering subcategory, Glacier Skywalk by Sturgess Architecture was a Popular Choice and Jury winner. In the Cultural subcategory, the Monte Clark Gallery by D’Arcy Jones Architecture was a finalist, while in the Transportation subcategory, Fort McMurray International Airport by Office of McFarlane Biggar Architects (OMB) was also a finalist. In the Architecture + Self-Initiated Projects subcategory, MODERNest House 3 by MODERNest was a finalist, while in the Materials— Stone + Concrete subcategory, Kneider Architects was the Popular Choice winner. Special mentions went to the following: youCUBE by 5468796 Architecture in the

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

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NEWS Low-Rise Multi-Unit Housing subcategory; Russett Residence by Splyce Design in the Large Private House subcategory; Regent Park Aquatic Centre by MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects in the Architecture + Urban Transformation subcategory; Lenticular Curtain by PLANT Architect in the Architecture + Art subcategory; and Chanelled Buried Moved Lost by PLANT Architect in the Religious Buildings & Memorials subcategory.

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http://awards.architizer.com/winners/list/

Winners of the 2015 Atlantic Wood Design Awards announced.

The first annual Atlantic WoodWORKS! Wood Design Awards were recently celebrated, recognizing excellence in wood construction and design, and honouring the people and organizations that showcase and promote the use of wood in the Atlantic region. A jury of experts reviewed the 24 nominees within six different categories and selected winners based on several factors including: creativity, distinctive use of wood materials, ability to satisfy client and site requirements, innovation and overall aesthetics. The University of New Brunswick Bailey Hall Theatre Renovations by Murdock & Boyd Architects won in the New Brunswick Non-Residential Project category, while the winner in the Nova Scotia Non-Residential Project category was Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre by Lydon Lynch Architects in joint venture with Diamond Schmitt Architects. The Southlands Community Centre by Fougere Menchenton Architecture Inc. took the award in the Newfoundland and Labrador Non-Residential Project category. The Moore Studio by Omar Gandhi Architect Inc. distinguished itself as the winner of the Atlantic Residential Project category. Mark Gillis from Gillis & Company Timber Frames won the Atlantic Engineer Award, while Brian MacKay-Lyons of MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Ltd. took the Atlantic Architect Award.

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Winners of the 2015 BC Wood Design Awards announced.

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This annual event honours excellence in wood building and design, and recognizes leadership and innovation in wood use. There were 107 nominations in 12 categories from all over the province, as well as an international nomination of a BC project by a New York-based designer. All projects showcase distinctive and unique qualities of wood such as strength, beauty, versatility and cost-effectiveness. The Wood Champion Award was presented to Marie-Odile Marceau, principal of McFarland Marceau Architects Ltd. in Vancouver, and Eric Karsh, principal of Equilibrium Consulting Inc. in Vancouver, was awarded the Engineer Award. Vancouver-based Michael Green of Michael Green Architecture won the Architect Award and the Wood Innovation Award. The Environmental Performance Award was presented to Matheo Durfeld of BC Passive House for his project, BC Passive House Plant in Pemberton. Winners in the wood design categories are as follows: Residential Wood Design— David Ratzlaff, HR Pacific Construction Management Ltd. for Kicking Horse Residence in Golden; Multi-Unit Residential Wood Design—Eric Andreasen, Adera Development Corporation for Sail in Vancouver; Commercial Wood Design—Hugh Cochlin, Proscenium Architecture + Interiors Inc. for Mountain Equipment Co-op Head Office in Vancouver; Interior Beauty Design—Nick Bevanda, CEI Architecture for Southern Okanagan Secondary School Expansion in Oliver; Institutional Wood Design (Small)—McFarland

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NEWS Marceau Architects Ltd. for UBCO Fitness and Wellness Centre in Kelowna; Institutional Wood Design (Large)—Michael Green, Michael Green Architecture for Ronald McDonald House BC in Vancouver; Western Red Cedar—McFarland Marceau Architects Ltd. for Environmental Learning Centre/North Vancouver Outdoor School in Brackendale. Two Jury’s Choice awards were also announced: Steve McFarlane of the office of mcfarlane biggar architects + designers inc. for the Fort McMurray International Airport in Fort McMurray, Alberta; and Thomas Leung of Thomas Leung Structural Engineering for MEWS, UBC, Vancouver/Emerald Heights, Surrey/Dominion, New Westminster. World Architecture Festival call for award submissions.

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is calling for award entries from North American architects and related design and development professionals to submit their projects by May 22, 2015. Last year, award-winning Canadian practice 5468796 Architecture + Number Ten Architectural Group won the Future Projects: Competition Entries award for an innovative new structural addition to the Art Gallery of

Heat

Greater Victoria. This year’s World Architecture Awards will once again be hosted in Singapore at Suntec City from November 4-6, 2015—where category winners will compete for the ultimate accolades of World Building of the Year and Future Project of the Year 2015. Shortlisted entrants will compete for category prizes on the first two days of the Festival, and on the final day, category winners will present again to juries of experienced and respected professionals, who will decide on the World Landscape, Future Project and Completed Building of the Year Awards. All entries must be submitted in English by May 22, 2015.

world is the relationship between the architect and the photographer more evident and more crucial than at the World Architecture Festival. In addition to the prestige and exposure, there is a cash prize of $3,000 for the overall winner. There are four categories in which to enter: Exteriors, Interiors, Sense of Place and Buildings in Use. The deadline for submissions is June 30, 2015. The jury includes; Katy Harris, Head of Communications, Fosters and Partners; Clifford Pearson, Deputy Editor at Architectural Record; Amy Croft, Curator at Sto; and Hufton + Crow, award-winning architectural photographers. www.arcaidawards.com

www.worldarchitecturefestival.com

2015 Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards.

The prestigious international Arcaid Architectural Photography Awards are now open for entries. If selected, your images will be on show in Singapore at the World Architecture Festival, attended by the world’s leading architects, in addition to being exhibited at Werkstatt, the cultural HQ of the Sto Group in London’s fashionable Clerkenwell district. The awards highlight the expertise of the specialist architectural photographer. Nowhere in the architectural

Tristan van Leur 2015 wins 2015 Michael Evamy Scholarship.

Encouraging people to look up from their mobile devices to engage with the physical world is a challenge designers face every day. 2015 Michael Evamy Scholarship recipient Tristan van Leur is taking a unique approach to this challenge. Instead of trying to convince people to put their devices away, his thesis entitled Spacebook will examine ways to empower public spaces through mobile devices. Van Leur’s research will focus on integrating technology in Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) but, in theory, the culmina-

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NEWS tion of his research should be applicable to all public spaces. He will begin with a site analysis of the largest POPS network in North America (New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Seattle), followed by social network analysis. By experimenting with a variety of techniques such as heating, cooling and sound, van Leur plans to explore ways in which heightening the senses can encourage spontaneous conversation and interaction, conducting built design experiments along the way. A fresh graduate of the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture, his research is expected to be complete by summer 2016.

INTRODUCING

Frei Otto wins 2015 Pritzker Prize.

Tom Pritzker, Chairman and President of The Hyatt Foundation, sponsor of the prize, recently announced that Frei Otto was awarded the 2015 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Pritzker said: “Our jury was clear that, in their view, Frei Otto’s career is a model for generations of architects and his influence will continue to be felt. The news of his passing is very sad, unprecedented in the history of the prize. We are grateful that the jury awarded him the prize while he was alive. Fortunately, after the jury decision, representatives of the prize travelled to Otto’s home and were able to meet with him to share the news. At this year’s Pritzker Prize award ceremony in Miami on May 15th, we will celebrate his life and timeless work.” Otto becomes the 40th laureate of the Pritzker Prize and the second laureate from Germany. He practiced a holistic and collaborative approach to architecture, working with environmentalists, biologists, engineers, philosophers, historians, naturalists, artists and other architects. A distinguished teacher and author, Otto pioneered the use of modern lightweight tent-like structures for many uses. He was attracted to them partly for their economical and ecological values. He believed in making efficient, responsible use of materials, and that architecture should make a minimal impact on the environment. He is best known for the roofing for the main sports facilities in the Munich Olympic Park for the 1972 Summer Olympics (with Behnisch + Partner and others), the German pavilion at the 1967 International and Universal Exposition (Expo 67), and the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany (with Shigeru Ban, 2014 Pritzker winner). www.pritzkerprize.com

Harold Orr to receive Pioneer Award at International Passive House Conference.

This year’s Pioneer Award, which recognizes the trailblazers of energy-efficient construction, will go to the Saskatchewan Conservation House, where many features of the modern Passive House Standard were successfully tested in 1977. Against the backdrop of the oil crisis at the time, a broad team of experts looked at possibilities to significantly reduce the consumption of heating oil. Their studies showed that it was mainly a question of thermal protection of the building envelope. Canadian mechanical engineer, Harold Orr, one of the driving forces behind this project, will receive the Pioneer Award at the International Passive House Conference 2015 in Leipzig. To address the extreme climate of the prairie, a doubleskin construction was chosen in order to achieve optimal thermal protection for the house in Regina. To ensure an airtight building envelope, Orr and a team of colleagues had to carry out much of the work of air sealing themselves since there were no experts for such work at the time. In the 1970s, the Saskatchewan Research Council team also entered uncharted territory with regard to the windows,

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NEWS COMPETITIONS Winner of the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park Innovative Design Competition announced.

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ABOVE The winning proposal for the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park by KPMB Architects + West 8 + Greenberg Consultants creates a signature waterfront park and iconic ferry terminal that engages the water’s edge while offering spectacular views of the lake.

which were already triple-glazed in part. Another crucial part of the building concept was a water tank that captured heat from the sun during the daytime, which could be stored for a short period and thus be used for heating the

building at night. In addition to Orr, the success of the Saskatchewan Conservation House was made possible through the engagement of the many experts involved in the project.

www.passivehouse-international.org

Waterfront Toronto, in partnership with the City of Toronto, recently announced that KPMB Architects + West 8 + Greenberg Consultants is the winning team of the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park Innovative Design Competition. The goal of the competition was to create an inspiring vision for the long-term transformation of the area. The winning design will be used to create a unifying and inspiring master plan for the revitalization of the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park that can be phased in over time, as funding and budget become available. The vision for the area will result in a welcoming gateway to the Toronto Islands—one of the City’s most unique and cherished parks—with amenities and infrastructure to support the approximately 1.3 million visitors who use the ferry each year. KPMB Architects + West 8 + Greenberg Consultants’ proposal successfully created a signature waterfront park and iconic ferry terminal that complements proximity to the water’s edge

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NEWS while offering spectacular views of the lake. The jury agreed that the winning proposal’s heavily planted and lush green space set it apart from the other designs and would help support the large number of visitors during peak times. The winning team’s multi-functional, accessible design was well thought out for both winter and summer uses and retains the Jack Layton Memorial at the prominent central crossroads of the park. The jury was led by Donald Schmitt of Diamond Schmitt Architects and was comprised of a distinguished group of design professionals and civic leaders, including Claude Cormier, Claude Cormier + Associés; Antonio Gomez-Palacio, Dialog; Pina Petricone, Giannone Petricone Associates; and Sevaun Palvetzian, CivicAction. The competition was launched in November 2014 to develop bold new concepts for one of the waterfront’s most important waterfront destinations. In total, 33 design teams from 12 countries submitted proposals outlining their qualifications. Five teams were shortlisted in January 2015 to participate in the design competition and undertook an intensive eight-week design exercise to develop their proposals for the ferry terminal, park and surrounding areas. In March 2015, a five-day public exhibition was held at Toronto City

Hall and online, giving Torontonians an opportunity to review the design approaches and provide feedback to the competition jury. www.waterfrontoronto.ca

2015 Cool Gardens competition winners announced.

Cool Gardens is a public exhibition of contemporary garden and art installations presented by StorefrontMB and The Forks taking place in Winnipeg from July 4-September 26, 2015. Featuring locally, nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and practitioners in the Winnipeg context, it highlights the value of art and design in public space. Installations will run from Broadway Avenue to Provencher Boulevard, highlighting this generally unrecognized pedestrian linkage and providing an accessible, engaging, creative and active experience of downtown Winnipeg. The 2015 Cool Gardens competition sought creative proposals from designers, architects, landscape architects and/or artists who are interested in challenging and celebrating the interface beB:9.75” tween urbanism, landscape and design. The T:9.25” exhibit of cutting-edge gardens places design S:8” culture at the centre of summer activities in Winnipeg, and at the same time, offers pleas-

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ant cooling relief from the relentless heat of the season. Three winning submissions have been announced: A Landscape Never Happens Twice by Balmori Associates Inc.; Citizen Garden by Branton Leskiw + Dale Wiebe + Kent Mundle + Matthew Rajfur; and Sitting on the Docks of Broadway! by Aaron Duke + Duncan Bates + Michael Barker. In addition to three new gardens selected by competition, Cool Gardens 2015 will include an invited garden by internationally recognized visual artists Rodney Latourelle and Louise Witthöft, a sonic landscape curated by La Maison des Artistes, as well as the remounting of two previous gardens: Beachscape by SPMB and Cool Dots by Eva Tarsia. http://coolgardens.ca

ERRATUM The Alberta Association of Architects (AAA) extends a sincere apology to the following members whose names were misspelled or omitted from their congratulatory notice in the March 2015 edition of Canadian Architect magazine: J. Michael Johnson, Architect, AAA; Peter Chung, Intern Architect, AAA; Isaac Martinez, Intern Architect, AAA; and Elizabeth Valentine, Intern Architect, AAA.

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RAIC AWARDS—ARCHITECTURAL FIRM

MARC CRAMER

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

PROVENCHER_ROY Founded by architects Claude Provencher and Michel Roy in 1983, Montreal-based Provencher_Roy has established a reputation for innovation. A dominant player in Canada, Provencher_Roy today is a multidisciplinary firm offering architecture, urban and industrial design services, as well as expertise in urban planning, interior design and sustainable development. The firm has more than 150 dedicated professionals practicing around the world. Over the years, they have amassed over 70 prizes and awards in recognition of the excellence of its projects in Quebec, Canada and abroad. It has deep roots in the community, and is known for the consistently high quality of its projects, the dedication of its team, and its commitment to its home city of Montreal. The firm’s ethos takes heritage considerations to heart, and successfully blends this with a resolutely contemporary approach, seeking to create an architecture that fits harmoniously with its environment. “A good project,” says Claude Provencher, “is one that contributes something to the city.” Consequently, at the very outset of each project, the firm closely examines the physical, social and historical context before

generating a variety of design schemes. 1992 was an important year for Provencher_Roy. The World Trade Centre was built on an abandoned block in the heart of Old Montreal, the first major urban renewal intervention in this historic district. Moreover, the Pointe-à-Callière Museum opened its doors the same year, marking the 350th anniversary of the founding of Montreal. Provencher_Roy was one of the main contributors to this internationally recognized project, and it proved to be a turning point in the contemporary history of Montreal architecture. Thirty years later, Provencher_Roy has innumerable achievements to its credit, from museum and university pavilions to hospital structures, hotels and commercial projects. One of the more recent projects that has earned praise is the Claire and Marc Bourgie Quebec and Canadian Art Pavilion, opened in 2011. Applauded for its architectural merits, this project is also part of another large urban renewal operation being spearheaded by the firm. Provencher_Roy is currently working closely with the Musée national des Beaux-arts du Québec on a major expansion proposed for the significant Plains of Abraham site. Other high-

STÉPHANE GROLEAU

TOM ARBAN

STÉPHANE GROLEAU

OPPOSITE Recent work for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts involved converting a church into a concert hall and creating a new pavilion to showcase Quebec and Canadian Art. ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Provencher_Roy worked in consortium with Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux to renovate the Montreal Casino; the Francesco Bellini and Cancer Pavilions are specialized research labs completed with Diamond Schmitt; the firm’s work on Montreal’s Ritz-Carlton included transforming a section of the building into luxury condos.

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

RAIC AWARDS—ARCHITECTURAL FIRM

MARC CRAMER STÉPHANE GROLEAU

MARC CRAMER

RAIC AWARDS—ARCHITECTURAL FIRM

STÉPHANE GROLEAU

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT A view of the Pavillon Joseph-Armand Bombardier for the Université de Montréal and École Polytechnique de Montréal; Provencher_Roy was part of a team of architects responsible for major renovations to Quebec’s Jean Lesage International Airport; a recent renovation to HEC Montréal added a glass vitrine to the 1970s university building; a new entrance to the Place des Arts hub was completed in partnership with Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Completed by Dan Hanganu and Provencher_Roy, Mariners’ House is the fifth pavilion in Montreal’s Pointe-à-Callière museum complex; a view of the Canadian Embassy in Morocco; the Université de Montréal’s Biodiversity Research Centre consists of two buildings linked by a rainwater-fed courtyard; a new laboratory in Quebec’s Technology Park specializes in animal pathology, and was designed with Gagnon Letellier Cyr Ricard Mathieu et associés.

profile projects in which the firm is currently involved include the design of the future Maritime Terminal, the entrance to the city of Montreal from the river, and the complete redevelopment of the Alexandra Pier. The firm also collaborated with Danish architect Poul Ove Jensen on the future Champlain Bridge, where it was responsible for designing the approaches to the bridge on both sides of the river. Continued service to the profession is another hallmark of the firm. From 1996 to 2011, Claude Provencher served as a member, then later as vice chair of the National Capital Commission’s Design Committee. Since 2008, he has held the position of commissioner and served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Commission des biens culturels du Québec. For his outstanding contribution and leadership role in the community, Provencher was inducted into the Royal Canadian Acad-

emy of Arts in 2014. He once sat on the Board of Directors of Héritage Montréal, and in recent years, has provided significant support to the Maison de l’architecture du Québec. :: Jury :: Provencher_Roy was chosen for the breadth and consistently high quality of work over many years. Recognized for its collaborative work and the excellence of its working and peer-learning environment, Provencher_Roy has played an important mentoring role that has helped establish the next generation of architects. In addition, they have maintained an important and continuing involvement in advocacy, education and community, engaging with the public and promoting the profession of architecture in the community at large.

MARC CRAMER

PROVENCHER_ROY

STÉPHANE GROLEAU

25 CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

GUY TESSIER AND CHRISTIAN PERREAULT

RAIC AWARDS—ARCHITECTURAL FIRM

out of the box The CCA’s long-term commitment is to advance and develop new research methods while actively exhibiting its international archives.

ábalos & herreros 12.03 –13.09.2015

A series of three research-based exhibitions that explores the archival material of the architecture firm Ábalos & Herreros, which operated in Madrid from 1984 until 2008. Conceived as three consecutive readings of the material by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen, Juan José Castellón and SO–IL, the exhibitions reveal the significance of the work of Ábalos & Herreros for contemporary architecture.

cca.qc.ca Centre Canadien d’Architecture Canadian Centre for Architecture 1920, rue Baile, Montréal 514 939 7026

The CCA gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts de Montréal. image: Iñaki Ábalos and Juan Herreros in their office, Madrid, 1999. Ábalos & Herreros fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. Gift of Iñaki Ábalos and Juan Herrero. © Iñaki Ábalos and Juan Herreros.

Fallingwater®, Kaufmann Residence, Mill Run, Pa., c. 1936 Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Conservator: Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

RISING ABOVE

Restoring an iconic landmark’s beauty while honoring Wright’s dedication to blending architecture with nature. Imagine the Kaufmann family’s surprise when, instead of boasting a view of the waterfall, Frank Lloyd Wright suggested building their home on top of it! To restore the historic landmark’s beauty, PPG’s color-matching technology rose to the occasion, recreating Wright’s original aesthetic vision. To protect and beautify the outside, conservationists used PERMA-CRETE™ Alkali-resistant Primer coating and MANOR HALL® TIMELESS® paint for the topcoat. Inside, they applied PURE PERFORMANCE® zero-VOC* base paint. They chose DURANAR® coatings for the window frames to deliver unparalleled performance against the elements. And, they replaced 319 windows using STARPHIRE® ultra-clear glass and SUNGATE® low-emissivity glass. Visit ppginnovation.com/risingabove to contact a PPG IDEASCAPES™ specialist for your next project.

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Perma-Crete is a trademark and Manor Hall, Timeless and Pure Performance are registered trademarks of PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc. Bringing innovation to the surface and PPG IdeaScapes are trademarks and Duranar, Starphire, Sungate and the PPG Logo are registered trademarks of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. Fallingwater is a registered trademark of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. © 2015 PPG Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. *Colorants added to this base paint may increase volatile organic compound (VOC) levels significantly, depending on color choice.

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Image of Fallingwater is used with express consent of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. PPG is a proud sponsor of Fallingwater/Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

PATKAU ARCHITECTS

RAIC AWARDS—INNOVATION IN ARCHITECTURE

ONE FOLD ARCHITECT

Patkau Architects

One Fold is an experimental project exploring the architectural possibilities of folding a single sheet of steel one time. The project takes its inspiration from a challenge put to origami artist Paul Jackson; make an origami sculpture with only one fold. One Fold takes on that challenge at the scale of inhabitable space. To make that shift in scale demands a shift in material, from paper to steel, and that shift in material in turn demands a new technique. The conventional punch-and-die press brake—which is used to fold sheet steel—becomes the subject of adaptation, and through an iterative process evolves into a unique device. Use of this adapted brake yields a surprisingly beautiful, self-supporting form that springs out of the nature of the material. Between the crisp straight lines and elegant curvature, ideal structural geometry naturally expresses itself throughout the surface of the sheet. As a monocoque thin-shell enclosure, One Fold is lightweight, durable, demountable and recyclable. As a sculptural form it is surprising and engaging from all angles. The possibilities of the One Fold principles were explored through a variety of projects. The first of these applications was a response to a request from Comme des Garçons in Tokyo for a module that could be used both for display and as a change room in their new Ginza store. A module comprised of a nested pair of 5’ x 12’ “broken” vaults was proposed; oriented vertically, the vaults described a space for display and

PATKAU ARCHITECTS

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

The project was inspired by simple origami folds. BOTTOM Full-scale sculptures were created in the office courtyard. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP A model for a garden pavilion formed from two welded vaults; elevation and plan of Garden Naum, a pavilion made from a cluster of three vaults; sample output from the bending process; renderings of display pavilions commissioned for a Comme des Garçons store in Ginza, Tokyo.

ABOVE

also, with the addition of a fabric curtain, could be used as a change room. Following the display/change room project, a larger-scale proposal was developed for a landscape shelter formed by a cluster of vaults which utilize three 10’ x 24’ sheets of stainless steel. The third application, Garden Naum, was developed as a response to a request for a garden pavilion. Here, two 7.5’ x 12’ “broken” vaults are welded together with the addition of a folded roof/gutter to provide a monolithic, largely enclosed volume with two openings—a principal opening oriented toward the distant view of harbour and mountains, and a secondary opening oriented toward the more intimate garden context. In all three applications, the resulting assemblage of vaulted forms shares the juxtaposition of straight line and graceful curve that is further enhanced by the lustrous surfaces of stainless steel. The potential applications are far from exhausted, as the possibilities continue to be explored. In the long architectural ambition to realize structures with ever-higher strength-to-weight ratios, One Fold is a significant step. It is an efficient structure that embodies a minimal ecological footprint. More than this, it represents an attention to material that finds beauty in structure and structure in beauty, promoting that aspiration within architecture generally. One Fold is, in that sense, a solution but also a provocation to rethink our relationship, as architects, to materials and our means of employing them.

PATKAU ARCHITECTS

JIMMY DOW

29 CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

PATKAU ARCHITECTS

RAIC AWARDS—INNOVATION IN ARCHITECTURE

EMA PETER

WOOD INNOVATION DESIGN CENTRE MGA | Michael Green Architecture Prince George, British Columbia

ARCHITECT LOCATION

The Wood Innovation Design Centre (WIDC) celebrates wood as one of the most beautiful and sustainable materials for building in Canada and around the globe, demonstrating that tall timber buildings can be economical and safe. Serving as a gathering place for academics, design professionals and others interested in generating ideas for innovative uses of wood, the WIDC houses the University of Northern BC on the lower three floors of the building, which offers a Master of Engineering degree in Integrated

MGA

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

RAIC AWARDS—INNOVATION IN ARCHITECTURE

Wood Design. Upper floors provide office space for government and wood industry-related organizations. The eight-storey building (six storeys plus mezzanine and penthouse) stands 29.5 metres tall—for the moment, the world’s tallest modern all-timber structure, a record soon to be broken by other mass-timber buildings in the works. British Columbia’s building code currently does not allow buildings over four storeys to be built of timber, with the exception of six-storey residential projects. The province enacted a site-specific regulation to allow the WIDC to be built for academic and office use at six storeys. With no precedent, however, the project team had to prove that all life-safety requirements could be met with the mass-timber design. Extensive mock-ups, testing and detailed studies were conducted to satisfy the team, the owner, and the building officials of the soundness of the project’s approach, and its applicability to future projects.

EMA PETER

WWW.NATURALLYWOOD.COM

The driving principle behind the case for tall wood buildings is environmental economics. Building with wood sourced from sustainably managed forests offers designers a rapidly renewable, low-energy and carbon-sequestering alternative to conventional building materials. The global demand for new housing in cities has never been higher. The environmental footprint of meeting this need is massive, and has huge impacts on climate change. A widespread shift to building more of our cities’ large structures with timber would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The WIDC project sought to demonstrate the feasibility of this way of building. To showcase this potential, Michael Green Architecture (MGA) used no concrete in the WIDC project above the ground-floor slab, with the exception of a floor topping at the mechanical penthouse. The masstimber structural elements are exposed as the ceiling finish in most spaces, allowing occupants to see and understand the structure around them. Even the curtain-wall mullions are made from mass-timber products. Instead of creating a showpiece building, MGA designed a building that is rational and restrained in its approach, so that it can easily be replicated. This was a fundamental choice, made in the interest of seeing many more architects, engineers and private developers recognize the value and simplicity of mass-timber design as an alternative to steel and concrete. With this project, MGA sought to demonstrate economical, repeatable technologies for building high-rise structures with timber, in hopes of in-

MGA

OPPOSITE The newly opened WIDC showcases the use of mass-timber construction technologies. CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE A CLT panel is hoisted into place; the interior includes exposed glulam columns and ceiling elements made of staggered CLT panels; a diagram illustrates the interaction of structural wood systems.

spiring institutions, private-sector developers, and other architects and engineers to embrace this way of building, and to push even taller with wood. :: Jury :: The two projects selected for the Innovation in Architecture Award are extraordinary examples of true innovation that is significant, repeatable and applicable to the profession. The projects are “bookends” of the same focus on continual research, investigation and development by two firms with long histories of significant works.

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

RAIC AWARDS—INNOVATION IN ARCHITECTURE

RAIC AWARDS—GREEN BUILDING

MARTIN TESSLER

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

CENTRE FOR INTERACTIVE RESEARCH ON SUSTAINABILITY Perkins+Will Vancouver, British Columbia

ARCHITECT LOCATION

Conceived by Nobel laureate (IPCC, 2008) John Robinson, the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) is designed to be the most sustainable building in North America, and one of the few worldwide that is considered a regenerative building. Developed in three different iterations at different sites over 12 years, CIRS is a testament to a strong vision and the architect-client partnership that championed the project since its inception. Located at the University of British Columbia, the LEED Platinumcertified building houses 200 inhabitants from private, public and nongovernment organization sectors, who work together to advance innovation in sustainable technology and building practices and to create a springboard for their widespread implementation. The 5,675-squaremetre “living lab” is organized around two four-storey wings, linked by an atrium that serves as a building lobby, entry to a daylit 450-seat auditorium, and “social condenser” space. In addition to academic offices, meeting rooms and social spaces, CIRS includes indoor environmental quality and building simulation software labs; a group-decision lab that has advanced interactive technologies to engage audiences in sustainability and climate-change scenarios; a building management system that

shares building performance in real time; and a café that uses no disposable packaging and serves local organic food. Furthermore, researchers study inhabitant interactions with the facility to improve building performance and maximize inhabitant health and well-being. CIRS emphasizes passive environmental strategies, demand reduction, and puts building systems on display. A pre-existing “desire line” that cuts through the site was retained and used as a strategy to engage pedestrians with the visible reclaimed water system, highlighting the project’s sustainability goals. The building massing contributes to the objective of 100% natural daylight and ventilation for all inhabitants; a living roof on the auditorium provides a courtyard amenity for upperlevel office users; building-integrated photovoltaics shade operable windows; and the expressed wood structure is constructed of FSC-certified and pine-beetle-killed wood. The western façade’s living solar screen is planted with deciduous vines—once grown in, it will act as a dynamic shading device that responds to seasonal change. In addition to assisting natural ventilation, the publicly accessible atrium is an educational space where all of these strategies are visible. Pursuing the Living Building Challenge, this “living building” har-

CIRS AQUA LAB

MARTIN TESSLER

PERKINS+WILL

OPPOSITE, LEFT TO RIGHT Located at the University of British Columbia, the LEED Platinum-certified CIRS building includes a façade that supports deciduous vines to provide seasonal shading; the interior structure uses FSC-certified and pine-beetle-killed wood, while a generous skylight incorporates photovoltaic cells. ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP A diagram illustrates the building’s multi-faceted sustainability strategies; the 450-seat auditorium is daylit from above; the building’s solar aquatic system occupies the front corner of the site, where it is highly visible to pedestrians.

vests sunlight, captures waste heat from a nearby building, and exchanges heating and cooling with the ground—and returns 600-megawatthours of surplus energy back to campus while removing 170 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Supplying 100% of the facility’s water needs, CIRS collects and purifies rainwater for potable use and cleans wastewater in an on-site solar aquatics biofiltration system at a rate of 2,300 litres per day. CIRS’s wood structure sequesters 600 tonnes of carbon, helping achieve net-zero carbon in construction and operations. CIRS is a research tool that demonstrates the possibilities in sustain-

able design, serving as a catalyst for change. The experience of creating CIRS has reshaped UBC’s vision for its campus and its role as an institution in addition to demonstrating how great the potential of sustainable development is around the world. :: Jury :: With a strong focus on natural light and ventilation, CIRS integrates a full range of sustainable design strategies. The building uses both passive and innovative approaches to sustainability to create architecture that is also a tool for research. It offers many strategies that are transferable to other building types.

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

RAIC AWARDS—GREEN BUILDING

MARC CRAMER

RAIC AWARDS—EMERGING PRACTICE

KANVA vancement of building practices and material innovation, often building full-size mock-ups of one-off construction details. Additionally, the firm applies sustainable principles such as urban densification, adaptive reuse, material recycling and the promotion of healthy living to all their projects, regardless of scale. Their point of departure is to consider the repurposing of everything—the existing building, land, materials and artifacts—as demonstrated in the salvaging of old bricks, the renewal of parks, and the emphasis on building on urban infill lots. Their multi-

CINDY BOYCE

A firm whose work elicits an experience, a memory and a reaction, Montreal-based multidisciplinary collective KANVA is led by McGill University School of Architecture graduates Tudor Radulescu, MRAIC, and Rami Bebawi, MRAIC, passionate architects who are artists as much as educators, both dedicated to the holistic practice of architecture. The practice believes architecture is synonymous with innovation— manifest in sustainable design and construction technology. Consequently, KANVA behaves as an experimental laboratory for the ad-

JIMMY HAMELIN

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

KANVA

The Edison student residence incorporates photo-engraved panels; Irène innovates with perforated façade panels; Entre les Rangs transformed Montreal’s Place des Festivals into a field of light and colour; the temporary installation 30 Lits animates a vacant lot; ABOVE A team including KANVA, AZPML, NEUF architect(e)s, Bouthillette Parizeau and NCK was commissioned to revitalize the Montreal Biodome. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT

faceted approach to sustainability is evidenced by their award-winning mixed-use project called Irène. Presented with the challenge to convert an existing two-storey pre-war industrial building into a five-storey complex, KANVA’s mission was to create a distinction between old and new while ensuring the new building maintained a sense of lightness— achieved by the invention of custom aluminum perforated façade panels that convey continuity, adaptability and theatricality. Recent projects include the Edison Residence, a student residence in a heritage district where KANVA experimented with photo-engraving on concrete to create an unusual façade. It features stills from Thomas Edison’s 1901 film Montreal Fire Department on Runners, alluding to the 19th-century building that formerly occupied the site before it burnt down in a fire. Entre les Rangs, the firm’s winning entry for the 2013 Luminothérapie international competition in Montreal, referenced Quebec’s wheat fields in an installation comprised of thousands of flexible stems topped with white reflectors. KANVA is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards such as a RAIC Award of Excellence in 2013, multiple Grands Prix du Design, and the Illuminating Engineering Society Award. The firm recently won the Warming Huts competition in Winnipeg and the international Space for Life architecture competition to reimagine the Montreal Biodome, demonstrating the broad scope of their work and further solidifying their status as an important emerging practice in Canada’s architectural landscape. The work of the studio has been featured in international publications

such as Canadian Architect, Azure, Architecture Mouvement Continuité, Dezeen, ArchDaily, Designboom, Phaidon Atlas and The New York Times. The two principals are also passionate architectural educators and active community members, and believe in guiding the next generation of emerging architects. Both OAQ mentors, they regularly participate as invited guest critics at McGill and the Université de Montréal while taking on an advisory role to students working on their Master’s-level theses. They believe in reciprocal teaching where they are as open to learning from their students as they are committed to guiding young architects in their formative years. Additionally, their teaching reaches beyond the boundaries of architecture. Both Radulescu and Bebawi were selected by the Quebec Minister of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion to be mentors for Modèles sans Frontières, an organization that connects recent immigrant youth to inspiring members of the Canadian community. Finally, as a young visionary force in the profession, KANVA greatly emphasizes the importance of making architecture more visibile. Whether initiating community outreach programs or bringing attention to a public project, the firm is invested in increasing the accessibility of architecture to a wider audience. :: Jury :: This is a firm that is always looking to the future, one that is continually and consistently innovative. Their work has a strong experimental quality, demonstrating experience and knowledge of construction detail and quality.

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

RAIC AWARDS—EMERGING PRACTICE

SEAN MCGRATH

RAIC AWARDS—YOUNG ARCHITECT

MONICA ADAIR Landscapes, Canada’s entry to the 2012 Venice Biennale in Architecture. The firm’s projects range from houses, such as the Mackay Apple Orchard on the Kingston Peninsula to public installations such as In Transit in Saint John, and larger projects like Picaroon’s Brewery in Fredericton. They are expanding beyond Canada with the Hekla Hotel in Brooklyn, New York. Adair has recruited a number of young architects to Saint John to join her practice comprised of seven full-time employees—a tremendous and very rare achievement that attests to New Brunswick’s potential and future design objectives. With only 11 architects under the age of 40 in the province, and an association with fewer than 75 provincial members, it is critical to the cultural growth and leadership to build the talent and ambitions of young professionals on the East Coast. An active mentor to junior high and high-school students, Adair meets with them as a guide to foster their interest in architecture, and she has partnered with local schools to give young students an opportunity to office-shadow. As a postsecondary edu-

ACRE ARCHITECTS

Monica Adair has a passion for making a difference—improving the physical landscape of New Brunswick, along with the goal of widening the public perspective as to its importance and value in our lives. From her practice of architecture and public art, as well as her serving on juries, volunteer boards, and teaching at a postsecondary level, she has been extremely successful at widening the reach of contemporary design in New Brunswick, while pushing the boundaries of debate with respect to investing in the region’s infrastructure and cultural environment. Adair holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Toronto. Prior to cofounding Acre Architects with husband Stephen Kopp in 2010, Adair worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York City and PLANT Architect Inc. in Toronto. Most recently, she was at Murdock & Boyd Architects in Saint John where she was project architect for a hockey arena that won the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Architecture in New Brunswick. Since its inception, Acre Architects has taken part in Migrating

ACRE ARCHITECTS

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

MARK HEMMINGS

SEAN MCGRATH

OPPOSITE TOP Tinker’s Orchard combines a cider-making workshop with a rural home. OPPOSITE BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT A rendering of Majumder Manor, an ecohotel in Newfoundland; an interior view of the in-process Hekla Hotel in Brooklyn. ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT A bachelor suite home addition; a new urban house and studio; a second-storey addition to a handbuilt home. BOTTOM Acre’s 90-metre-long installation adds colour to a bus stop in Saint John.

projects forward with care for architectural excellence. Adair has also played a public role and contributed to the voice of architectural advocacy and promotion through media as well. She was featured on a the W Network television series Majumder Manor after winning the design competition to design an eco-lux hotel in comedian Shaun Majumder’s hometown of Burlington, Newfoundland. They were guest writers for the network’s television website where they touched on topics of building meaning and encouraging building identities beyond sentimentality on the East Coast. :: Jury :: Monica has an impressive CV containing significant academic and work experience for a young practitioner. The consistent quality of her project work, commitment to her hometown and her work in the arts community is complemented by her teaching, advocacy, and contribution to regional collaboration in Atlantic Canada.

MARK HEMMINGS

cator, Adair held McGill University’s Gerald Sheff Visiting Professorship in Architecture in 2010, where she and Kopp were the recipients of the Gerald Sheff Award for part-time teaching, which recognizes outstanding teaching by part-time faculty in the School of Architecture. Believing in the importance of lecturing to help disseminate and build renewed confidence in architecture on the East Coast, she has spoken frequently at McGill University, the Tides Institute & Museum of Art in Maine, Judson University in Chicago, and Dalhousie University in Halifax. Adair embodies the spirit of an individual who, as the award’s purpose states, “inspires other young architects to become licensed and to strive for excellence in their work.” Wishing to play an active part in making big ideas come to life, Adair accepted a volunteer position on the Saint John Waterfront Development Board. As an opportunity to play a role in providing strategic direction, policy and governance processes for major urban projects, Adair offers a critical and informed position on how to move important urban

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

RAIC AWARDS—YOUNG ARCHITECT

BURDOCKS DESIGN STUDIO

DAVID FIRMAN

RAIC AWARDS—ADVOCATE FOR ARCHITECTURE

SUSAN ALGIE profit charitable organization, WAF is “dedicated to advancing the awareness and appreciation of Winnipeg’s built environment through public education.” In recent years, as its full-time volunteer Executive Director, she is responsible for directing and implementing its research and public programs. Under Algie’s leadership, WAF has developed and delivered a broad public program connecting people to the built environment through tours, exhibits, lectures, publications, a film series, a website and social media. These activities draw from Winnipeg’s wealth of historic architecture, its distinct architecture of the modern era, and its vibrant con-

B. BERGEN FOR WAF

For almost two decades and entirely in a voluntary capacity, Susan Algie has engaged the public with the built environment and with the architects and allied professionals that shape it. Focusing on her adopted city of Winnipeg and building on her public service experience as a heritage resources planner, she has directed programs of research and public education delivered by the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation (WAF). Algie has conceived, planned and executed initiatives that have had a local impact, provincial significance and national resonance. Inspired by the example of the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Susan and a small committee of volunteers founded WAF in 1996. As a non-

BURDOCKS DESIGN STUDIO

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

WAF

Susan Algie in the WAF storefront headquarters; a view of the WAF’s resource-rich website. OPPOSITE BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT A panel from an exhibition curated by Jeffrey Thorsteinson of WAF; a QR Code tour currently includes 100 Winnipeg buildings. ABOVE This advertisement for WAF appeared on local buses. BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT WAF produces publications and merchandise celebrating Modernist and contemporary architecture; the poster for an exhibition curated by Algie on construction toys; the popular Architecture + Design Film Festival is now in its fourth year. OPPOSITE TOP, LEFT TO RIGHT

the first pan-Canadian conference on the built heritage of the postwar era. In 2005, “Conserving the Modern in Canada: Buildings, Ensembles and Sites, 1945-1975” was held at Trent University. This seminal conference attracted 100 architects, allied professionals, academics and students to examine the built legacy of the modern era in Canada and its continuity into the future. Subsequently, she co-edited the bilingual proceedings and co-authored a guidebook, Peterborough Modern. Algie will soon begin her third decade of volunteer work, editing a monograph and curating an exhibit on the architectural firm of Green Blankstein Russell, while welcoming the public to WAF’s newly established bricks-and-mortar location within Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District. Susan Algie has demonstrated, and continues to demonstrate high-calibre and sustained advocacy achievements in connecting the public to architecture and architects. :: Jury :: Susan is a true advocate of the profession. WAF has quickly established itself as a vibrant force on the Winnipeg architectural scene. It has built a recognizable “brand” through a consistent and high-quality graphic approach and has grasped social media as a way to effectively promote and advocate for Winnipeg architecture.

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temporary architectural culture. Winnipeg residents and visitors benefit from a range of guided and self-guided WAF tours on foot, bicycle and bus. Algie has a particular passion for modern architecture, and has edited or co-authored four guidebooks: Broadway Modern, Brutalist Architecture in Winnipeg, and two on the city’s universities. In addition, leveraging current technology, she has established a QR Code tour for smartphone users that highlights key buildings in the city. Algie has directed exhibitions, including Winnipeg Civic Centre, 1964-2014 and University of Manitoba, along with online exhibits on the city’s neighbourhoods, public art, and even local building materials. Since 2012, Algie has curated the Architecture + Film series, a bimonthly offering of international films, and also collaborates with partners to curate Winnipeg’s annual Architecture + Design Film Festival. These various educational initiatives are built upon a long-term research program on Winnipeg architecture, its architects and allied professionals. To date, under Algie’s leadership, WAF has documented over 2,200 buildings and sites in the city of Winnipeg. Documentation of many of these places is available on the Foundation’s extensive website. Nationally, Algie’s passion for modern architecture led her to co-chair

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

RAIC AWARDS—ADVOCATE FOR ARCHITECTURE

RAIC AWARDS—ALLIED ARTS AWARD

OMER ARBEL Throughout 10 years of practice, Omer Arbel has explored the intimate relationship between light and space. His work continues to uncover new areas of investigation and possibility, using the physical process of making as a fundamental departure point for cross-disciplinary design. Arbel has been active in the traditionally defined fields of building design, industrial design, craft, and material research since 2000, when he graduated from the University of Waterloo. After apprenticeships at Miralles Tagliabue, Patkau Architects, and Busby + Associates Architects, in 2005 he founded his eponymous Vancouver design practice, Omer Arbel Office (OAO). At OAO, Arbel and his team operate within constantly oscillating parameters of scale, site, socioeconomics, phenomenological experiment, power relationships, environmental imperative and allegorical relevance, with the goal of creating extraordinary projects. The firm’s clients include private individuals, manufacturing companies, fine craft-focused ateliers, property developers, and diverse institutions. The design and manufacturing company, Bocci, was also founded in 2005 under Arbel’s creative directorship. The Vancouver-based firm launched with one product, a cast-glass lighting piece known as 14. Ten years later, Bocci has a growing portfolio of contemporary design ranging from light installations through to furniture and electrical sockets. All Bocci designs are developed, engineered and fabricated in house through an infrastructure calibrated to provide full control over technique, quality and scale. While the context of the work is international, the manufacturing is decidedly local. Over the last decade, Arbel has continually explored new directions in lighting design by creating custom installations in architecturally unique sites worldwide. These site-specific installations consider the role of lighting and its relationship to space. By allowing the viewer’s imagi-

NIC LEHOUX

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

nation to occupy architectural volumes that the body cannot, the lighting inflects the spaces and affects how they are inhabited. Arbel’s cross-disciplinary work both actively and organically pursues design synergies. His experiments in the fields of lighting and building design enrich his knowledge of each individual discipline, while promoting a deeper material understanding that traverses conventional borders. Through OAO and Bocci, Arbel embraces instances of contingency—creating two process-driven practices that cultivate, and even instigate, moments of material surprise, rather than imposing preconceived conceptual or formal meaning upon the work. Arbel has taught and lectured at the University of British Columbia School of Architecture, Parsons The New School for Design, the University of Manitoba, and the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Spazio Rossana Orlandi and Mallet Antiques, among others. Work from Bocci and OAO has been featured in a wide range of publications including Azure, Objekt, Domus, Wallpaper, Dwell, Frame, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph and Architectural Record. Upcoming projects include set design for a Ballet BC world premiere inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, a permanent light installation at Canada House in London, a permanent public light installation in Vancouver’s downtown core, and a solo exhibition at Vancouver’s Monte Clark Gallery. :: Jury :: His work presented us with an artful play in perspective, object and space. Breathtaking and delightful in its simplicity, the Victoria and Albert installation effects a surprising transformation of the space and surface of the architecture, of up and down, dark and light.

GWANAEL LEWIS

OPPOSITE Omer Arbel’s lights add sparkle to the living space of a private residence in White Rock, British Columbia. The house was also designed by Arbel, who trained as an architect. ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP An installation at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum clusters pendant lights, produced using a technique that yields distorted glass spheres; the lights at Vancouver’s TacoFino restaurant incorporate cacti and succulents; a suspended array of smoky bulbous glass lights lends a playful yet elegant touch to the renowned Mallet Antiques showroom in London.

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

RAIC AWARDS—ALLIED ARTS AWARD

RAIC AWARDS—LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

vironment in the revitalization of Batawa. The vision is for it to become a model of social and environmental sustainability once again. For the past 10 years she has worked with many Canadian architects on this project, including the Zeidler Partnership, Montgomery Sisam Architects, Quadrangle Architects and Dubbeldam Architecture + Design. All the buildings the Batas commissioned were incredibly avant-garde for their time and stand as a testament to benefactors with a forward-looking vision, who enabled architects to achieve architectural innovation and excellence. Through her strength of character and intense vision, Bata’s role as an advocate for architecture and design is exemplary. :: Jury :: The nomination of Sonja Bata acknowledges a lifetime of work that is astounding in its breadth, rigour and commitment. This nomination represents a series of achievements so compelling and special that it deserves recognition and its own special award.

REGIONAL GALLERY OF FINE ARTS, ZLÍN

Sonja Bata, a longtime friend of architecture and Canadian architects, has been a strong advocate for design excellence and a benefactor of architecture worldwide for decades. On top of the remarkable series of architecturally significant buildings commissioned by her and her late husband, Bata has furthered public appreciation of design excellence through her outstanding community service in architectural and design advocacy. Born Sonja Wettstein in Zürich, Switzerland, Bata studied architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. In 1946 she married Tomas Bata Jr., whose booming family business, Bata Shoe, was poised to become the world’s leading footwear exporter. Tomas Jr. and Sonja commissioned architects to design Bata’s factories, shops and planned communities all over the world, continuing a tradition started by Tomas Jr.’s father, who worked with prominent architects such as Le Corbusier and Peter Behrens. Their factory towns were designed as models of sustainability and social innovation with accompanying schools, health-care facilities, and community, cultural and religious centres. In 1939 Tomas Bata created a factory town in Batawa, north of Trenton, Ontario, which became Bata’s Canadian headquarters for 25 years. Parkin Architects designed a private residence for the family there in 1959, which still stands as a Modernist masterpiece and a beautiful example of Mid-Century Modern design. In 1964, the Bata headquarters moved to Toronto, and again Parkin Architects was commissioned to design the iconic Bata International Centre, which opened in 1965. Unfortunately, this fine example of the International Style was demolished in 2008, with Bata’s blessing, to make way for the Aga Khan Museum. In 1975, Bata’s extensive collection of traditional shoes from around the world found a home in the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, a global centre for footwear research designed by Moriyama & Teshima Architects. From 1964 to 1976, Bata was a member of the National Design Council of Canada, of which she was chair from 1973-1975. Under her leadership, the Council encouraged government and industry to employ good design and called for a national design strategy. Bata said, “If governments, with such huge purchasing power, don’t care about design then how are things ever going to improve for the rest of us? Design excellence should be a valid national objective.” Bata continues to pursue her passion for architecture and the built en-

VIRGINIA MACDONALD

SONJA BATA

BATA LTD.

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

MONTGOMERY SISAM ARCHITECTS WITH BOUSFIELDS AND PMA LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

Sonja Bata at home; the cover of a monograph on Bata’s factories in Czechoslovakia; the iconic Mid-Century Modern Bata International Centre by Parkin Architects, demolished in 2008 to make way for the Aga Khan Museum. ABOVE A view of a master plan to revitalize the factory town of Batawa as a sustainable community. BELOW, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Dubbeldam Architecture + Design conceived Bata’s Toronto penthouse; Moriyama & Teshima Architects designed the Bata Shoe Museum; a spread from a National Design Council publication advocating for a Canada-wide design strategy; a cover from a Czech publication on Bata’s avant-garde architecture worldwide.

SHAI GIL

MORIYAMA & TESHIMA ARCHITECTS

STÁTNÍ GALERIE VE ZLÍNĔ

NATIONAL DESIGN COUNCIL

OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

RAIC AWARDS—LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

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As the first of Canada’s Centennial Buildings, the Fathers of Confederation Buildings Trust (which now operates under the name Confederation Centre of the Arts) set an important precedent for subsequent Centennial projects, both in terms of their cultural program and their adoption of a Brutalist idiom. Its programmatic elements—library, theatre and art gallery—are expressed as discrete volumes rising from a podium elevated above street level and surrounding, on three sides, the dominant void of Memorial Hall on the concourse below. Its fourth side is bounded by Province House, site of the first Confederation Conference in September 1864. However, while the material treatment and height of the new complex defer to the historic Province House and the intimate scale of Charlottetown, the complex as a whole suggests a more aloof attitude to its smalltown setting, since the building massing does not address the surrounding streets, but instead defines a fortress protectively enveloping the activities it encloses. This sense of separation is further emphasized by an elevated podium that isolates the Fathers of Confederation Memorial Buildings in their constructed landscape. Even though the buildings do not adopt the rough, unfinished concrete expression usually associated with Brutalist architecture, their massive volumetric forms and aloofness to context have led to their characterization as representative of this movement. Brutalism was subsequently embraced by many of the architects designing Canada’s 1967 Centennial projects. Although it was already a dominant idiom in global architecture, its anti-historical, anti-hierarchical informality came to be understood as an appropriate expression for a Canada that was shedding its colonial past to forge a new identity as a culturally progressive, democratically transparent and independent modern nation. As a result, subsequent Centennial projects all turn their backs to their urban contexts, emphasizing their primary reading as landscape, encouraged by carefully framed photographs that illustrate their disloca-

tion from urban contexts, which are consequently rarely represented. This focus on landscape has profound implications for national identity: the urban contexts to which they turn their backs are largely artifacts of colonization, while the landscape remains emphatically Canadian. In addition to its prescient and pioneering role in the creation of a Canadian architectural identity associated with the 1967 Centennial, the project has also been praised for a variety of technical innovations at the time of its construction. The project description in the Canadian Register of Historic Places states that “when it was built in 1964, it was highly innovative in its stage design and acoustics, and featured state-of-the-art lighting and construction techniques.” The complex continues to fulfill its original function, with the performing arts theatre, art gallery and library all in continuous operation. Upgrades to mechanical and electrical services have resulted in some minor cosmetic alterations to the building’s exterior, and theatre interiors have recently been updated. Otherwise, while some minor revisions to the building have not fundamentally changed the building’s appearance, extensive landscaping and other interventions outside Memorial Hall have altered the character of the original exterior spaces, which were once extremely spare. :: Jury :: Known for its innovations in stage design, the Centre enjoys layered spaces that effortlessly balance monumentality and intimacy evident in few other places in Canada. The sculptural interplay of abstract building forms with courtyards and landscape terraces is expressed in a robust yet refined Brutalist language of concrete and sandstone. It subtly integrates the neighbouring historic Province House into one unified block perfectly scaled to Charlottetown’s urban core. Fifty years on, lovingly maintained with subtle adjustments enhancing its functions and architectural qualities, Confederation Centre remains both a key fixture of the daily life of Charlottetown, and an icon of the optimistic spirit of Canada’s Centennial era.

CONFEDERATION CENTRE OF THE ARTS

BELOW A panoramic view of the Confederation Centre of the Arts exhibits the bold approach taken by the architects, who crafted the buildings as a series of massive volumes turned inward toward the central Memorial Hall.

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

89 om

RAIC AWARDS—PRIX DU XXe SIÈCLE

RAIC AWARDS—PRESIDENT’S AWARD FOR MEDIA IN ARCHITECTURE

Lucie Lavigne receives recognition for 14 videos on contemporary residential architecture that were produced in 2013-2014. They appeared online and in LaPresse+, the digital edition of the newspaper for tablets, which reaches more than 438,000 mobile readers per week. Over the past decade, Lavigne has written on contemporary residential architecture for La Presse. She also authored the guide Construire, rénover, transformer: les meilleures idées d’architectes pour réussir votre projet, published by Éditions La Presse in 2011. When LaPresse+ launched, Lavigne created and directed over a dozen videos on architecture designed for the enhanced media platform. These video reports feature architects in houses that they designed, and engage viewers with their rich visual content. From the humblest home to major architectural projects, Lavigne’s journalistic goal remains the same: to communicate the extraordinary capacity of quality architecture to contribute to the well-being of those who inhabit it. :: Jury :: The jury was unanimous in recognizing the exceptional efforts made by La Presse in addressing diverse and relevant architectural concerns through its traditional print and groundbreaking electronic platforms, and bringing these views to the attention of the public. The investigative work of François Cardinal brings forward the importance of architectural and urban-quality criteria in public commissions and large-scale urban projects. The showcasing of contemporary domestic architecture and architects in Lavigne’s video reports is also noteworthy. The incorporation of writing, photographs and video showcased in the diverse reports prepared by both journalists shows that the subject of architecture is well-suited to digital formats.

LA PRESSE

François Cardinal receives one of two Awards for Media in Architecture for a two-part series on the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. The articles, titled “Prix Citron” and “Maintenant, faut vivre avec” were published in December 2014 in the daily newspaper La Presse. In the first article, Cardinal takes a critical look at the design of a major public building and how it became a missed opportunity for the city of Montreal. The second article is a commentary on the reactions of readers to his critique. In the two articles, Cardinal argues that beyond the functions they contain, the exterior character of public buildings is also vital. While the McGill University Health Centre may boast a state-of-the-art interior equipped with advanced technologies, the failure of the building to create a grand civic gesture also deserves critical attention. Cardinal places the blame not on the architects, but on the P3 procurement process, which prioritizes basic low-cost construction over finessed design. Cardinal’s writing underlines the importance of quality architecture in a manner accessible to the general public. Architecture, he explains, must take care of the surroundings that we share. In particular, public architecture should represent the highest achievements we are capable of, and leave a proud legacy for future generations.

LA PRESSE

FRANÇOIS CARDINAL AND LUCIE LAVIGNE

LA PRESSE

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

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CANADIAN CENTRE FOR ARCHITECTURE The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) has become a major international point of confluence for architectural and design thinking, research, publication, debate and innovation. Under the direction of Mirko Zardini, recent work includes Archaeology of the Digital, an investigation into the use of computers and toward CCA’s objective to create an international collection of digital architecture.

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CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

PRODUCT SHOWCASE Mitsubishi Electric – your Canadian HVAC partner

Fiberboard panels manufactured in Canada by MSL meet the most stringent environmental criteria, made entirely from non-toxic natural materials. They are stable, lightweight and easy to install, and have been placed at the top of the ranks for soundproofing, insulation and roofing panels. Innovation continues to be an important focus at MSL, recently recognized by industry professionals at Contech for Sustainable Development and Innovative Products.

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Micah Lexier: Hands Holding Things April 1-May 29, 2015

Part of the Art in Transit program, this public art initiative in Winnipeg features Micah Lexier’s photographic series displayed at several locations across the city. www.artintransit.ca

The Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts 2015 April 9-August 30, 2015

Taking place at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, this exhibition features the work of the winners in several categories of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts 2015. www.gallery.ca

Lina Bo Bardi: Together April 25-July 25 2015

This exhibition at the Graham Foundation in Chicago pays tribute to the work and legacy of 20th-century Italian-Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi, and features new works by artists Madelon Vriesendorp, Tapio Snellman and Ioana Marinescu. www.grahamfoundation.org

Contact Photography Festival May 1-31, 2015

This premier cultural annual event features well over 1,500 Canadian and international artists and photographers exhibiting at more than 175 venues throughout the Greater Toronto Area. http://scotiabankcontactphoto.com

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tendees a sneak peek inside private and public recreational sites, ranging from aquatic centres to athletics stadiums. www.doorsopenontario.on.ca/Events/To-

Lost Spaces 2015

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May 7-23, 2015

Gregg Pasquarelli lecture

Outside the Box 2.0

www.uwaterloo.ca

May 28, 2015

This 7:00pm lecture at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture is delivered by Gregg Pasquarelli, founding partner of SHoP, a New York-based architectural firm with projects completed or underway on all four continents.

May 9-19, 2015

Shaped by the limits of a single Bankers box, and capturing a distinct perspective of each place, works from cities across Canada and the US will be showcased at Industry City in Brooklyn. http://www.wanteddesignnyc.com

Marc Fornes lecture May 14, 2015

This 7:00pm lecture at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture is delivered by Marc Fornes, principal and founder of THEVERYMANY, a New Yorkbased design studio and research forum that engages the intersection of architecture and art with computer science, emphasizing building and fabrication as a testing ground for digital design. www.uwaterloo.ca

www.dx.org

University of Toronto architecture school celebrates 125th anniversary May 30, 2015

On view at Calgary City Hall, this exhibition features the shortlisted entries to the Lost Spaces competition that considered art, biodiversity, water management, utility, memory, and the function of the public realm in order to rethink remnant urban spaces. www.dtalks.org

permanent collection.

The University of Toronto’s architecture program was first established in 1890, and invites all alumni to celebrate its 125th birthday at 230 College Street, followed by a cocktail reception at the Royal Ontario Museum. www.daniels.utoronto.ca

Power Ball: Appetite for Excess June 4, 2015

DX Design Auction May 29, 2015

Proceeds from this live and silent auction of furniture and decorative objects donated from the personal collections of local and international design stars and personalities will support the Design Exchange’s educational programs, curatorial initiatives and the

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery’s annual Power Ball fundraiser investigates the fine line between decadence and debauchery through visual art, music, fashion and food. Through the art installations and performances, the gallery will present a multitude of provocative excesses. www.thepowerplant.org

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PULP: paper art party May 23, 2015

Challenges and Opportunities as Toronto Pearson Approaches Capacity May 4, 2015

The Urban Land Institute presents an international panel of regional airport experts who will identify airport capacity challenges for Southern Ontario. http://toronto.uli.org

ROOFTech: The Canadian Roofing Exposition May 5-6, 2015

This informational forum at the Vancouver Convention Centre of-

Taking place at the Jam Factory Co. in Toronto, this live music show/art exhibit hybrid features exciting designs for art installations, furniture, and outfits made of reclaimed materials. http://pulpartparty.ca

Doors Open Toronto May 23-24, 2015

More than 155 architecturally significant buildings across the city of Toronto will fling open their doors to the public for one weekend. This year’s theme of Sports, Recreation and Leisure offers at-

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CALENDAR

LOOKING BACK

PLACE BONAVENTURE Tanya Southcott

“What Italy can do with marble and stone,” proclaimed architect Raymond T. Affleck of his firm’s seminal work Place Bonaventure, “we can do with wood and concrete.” In the mid-1960s, Affleck’s statement echoed the mega-tendencies of a metropolis on the eve of its international inauguration. Construction for Expo 67 was in full swing, and Montreal was projected to grow its population of roughly 3 million to 7 million by the end of the century. Place Bonaventure epitomized this spirit of euphoric optimism. Promoted as a city within a city, the 3-million-square-foot poured-in-place concrete monolith inspired superlatives from conception. Located at the foot of the Bonaventure Expressway, the multi-purpose complex reclaimed a lucrative block of downtown real estate by transforming the airspace above the Canadian National Railway tracks into a hub of activity that linked to subway, railway and interior and exterior pedestrian networks. Its unique combination of large-scale trade, exhibition and convention-centre facilities with a wholesale merchandise centre aimed to revolutionize the wholesale retail experience by bringing the customer directly to the vendor. When completed, Place Bonaventure was the largest concrete building in the world and the second-largest commercial building after Chicago’s Merchandise Mart. At 250,000 square feet, Concordia Hall was the largest exhibition room in Canada, easily accommodating an artificial lake, an imitation ski slope, or three simultaneous football matches. The complex’s crowning jewel, a 401-room hotel, framed the country’s first rooftop garden complete with indoor-outdoor swimming pool, 17 storeys above downtown Montreal. The last half-century, however, has not been kind to Place Bonaventure. A series of renovations underscore the vulnerabilities of its monumental vision. Failure of the complex as a destination shopping location forced the incremental conversion of retail space to offices, a transition which erodes its folded concrete faÇades into a grid of windows. Crumbling concrete led to the construction of new entryways, and the reorganization of circulation at ground level obscures a once-clear orientation system. The introduction of new finishes dilutes the power and austerity of its carefully sculpted

H. R. JOWETT (REPRINTED FROM THE CANADIAN ARCHITECT, SEPTEMBER 1967)

TEXT

H. R. JOWETT (REPRINTED FROM THE CANADIAN ARCHITECT, SEPTEMBER 1967)

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 05/15

concrete detailing. While these changes ensure the building’s continued viability, they have done little to soften its fortress-like appearance for contemporary users. Despite its mixed reception, Place Bonaventure remains a hallmark in the evolution of the Canadian construction industry and architectural practice. The building “task force”—the consortium of architect (Affleck, Desbarats, Dimakopoulos, Lebensold, Sise), developer (Concordia Estates Development Company) and contractor (Concordia Construction Incorporated)—challenged the linearity of the traditional project delivery model with Canada’s

first design-build proposal. The simultaneous design and construction of Place Bonaventure carried the project from idea to reality in half the time of conventional sequencing. This process exceeded the team’s ambitions of efficiency and functionality by delivering a product miraculously both on time and on budget. According to head designer Eva Vecsei, “We all just learned in the process. We were new; we saw no limits.” Its success is a credit to the cooperative spirit of the times and the project’s young entrepreneurial team. Tanya Southcott is a Montreal-based architect and writer.

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