The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Canada Society has announced the winners of this year’s design awards, with two awards going to DIALOG.
The MacKimmie Complex at the University of Calgary received the Award of Excellence in Architecture, and the Centennial College A-Building received the Award of Merit for Community Engaged Design – a category demonstrating significant measures were taken to engage community and other local social agencies throughout the design and construction process.
The AIA Canada Awards program runs annually to recognize best practices, innovative thinking, and design excellence in the work of AIA Canada members and future design professionals. The 2023 awards categories include Architecture, Interior Architecture, Special Projects, Urban Design, Community Engaged Design, Open International, Unbuilt, and Student.
This year’s jurors were two distinguished architects W Neil Robertson AIA, Vancouver B.C., and Dr. Brian R. Sinclair, Calgary, Alberta. Projects were evaluated based on design quality and resolution, social, technical and environmental advancement, and preservation and restoration.
Designed to be a high-performance net-zero carbon building, the MacKimmie Complex comprises a fully renovated tower and block and a brand-new link that connects the two buildings by an atrium, surrounded by a redesigned outdoor gathering space. The project will enhance pedagogical and administrative environments, accommodate growth, and strengthen the sense of place and community in the heart of the University of Calgary’s main campus.
The building enhances modern-day learning in a way that goes beyond technology and programming. The building skin makes its energy-modelling systems tactile, or visible to the eye, as a way to make climate change conversations a permanent fixture in life on campus.
Located on the Centennial College Progress Campus in Scarborough, ON, this transformative addition to the college’s campus seamlessly blends Indigenous perspectives, sustainability and innovative architecture. The project is Canada’s first LEED Gold, zero carbon, WELL certified, mass timber, higher-education facility. In association with Smoke Architecture, the building pays homage to Indigenous traditions and nature-inspired sustainability and is rooted in the Mi’kmaq concept of “Two-Eyed Seeing,” which harmonizes Indigenous wisdom and Western perspectives.
The A-Building expansion was designed as an opportunity to clearly demonstrate how higher education facilities can not only provide state-of-the-art pedagogical and cultural spaces but do so in a way that significantly reduces both operational and embodied carbon emissions.
Click here to see all 2023 AIA Canada Society design award winners.
About AIA Canada Society
AIA Canada Society is the Canadian chapter of the American Institute of Architects established in 2017 to bring AIA members residing in Canada together to continue advancement and development in the profession. AIA Canada operates as a not-for-profit, professional association representing and delivering programs and services to more than 400 architects and associate members. We maintain a broader involvement with the 6 other international Chapters of the AIA collaborating on events and continuing education programs around the globe.
Lead images by Joel Klassen and James Brittain.
