Ontario Construction News staff writer
The finalist for the Ontario Association of Architects’ (OAA) Design Excellence Awards, celebrating excellence in design, are in with 20 nominees vying for top honours.
This year’s short-listed projects showcase a range of building types, from innovative public swimming pools and stunning Ontario homes to sustainably designed education spaces and well-crafted government projects. The finalists were chosen by a jury of design and architectural experts, who will shortly refine the list to 10 finalist, with winners to be announced Friday, April 3.
“I’m excited about the jury’s selections for this year’s 2020 Design Excellence Awards, and I am pleased to be able to finally share them with you. These projects are exemplary of the outstanding work being done by Ontario architects,” says OAA President Kathleen Kurtin.
“I was particularly happy to see the quality and innovation in this year’s finalists, given that it was the first time EUI was included as a mandatory requirement of the submission process. Climate stability is a priority for the Association, and these awards demonstrate that Design Excellence is not limited by building responsibly for the future, but rather enriched.”
The biennial OAA Awards program offers Ontario architects an opportunity to present their work to the public and to a professional audience, demonstrating the excellence of both individual award winners and the profession as a whole. This year, for the first time, the program required Energy Use Intensity (EUI) metrics for all submissions. This reflects the OAA’s belief that sustainable design is no longer a specialty, but rather a critical component of all projects as the architecture profession strives to find ways to ensure the built environment contributes to climate stability.
Selected from 79 eligible submissions, the 20 finalists were judged on a number of criteria, including creativity, context, sustainability, good design/good business, and legacy. The final 10 Design Excellence winners, as well as the recipients of the Best Emerging Practice, G. Randy Roberts Service Award, Lifetime Design Achievement, and Order of da Vinci, will be announced April 3.