Diamond Schmitt Architects is the recipient of three awards for 2014 Design Excellence from the Ontario Association of Architects. The winning projects are the Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence, Centennial College Library and Bridgepoint Active Healthcare.
The annual awards program recognizes the best in architectural design by Ontario-based firms. Diamond Schmitt has won numerous OAA Design Excellence Awards, but winning three in one year is a first.
As selected from more than 170 submissions, the winners met the jury’s criteria for creativity, context, sustainability, good design/good business and legacy.
ALGONQUIN CENTRE FOR CONSTRUCTION EXCELLENCE (ACCE)
The LEED Platinum-certified Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence (ACCE) in Ottawa is a highly efficient combination of rigorous structure and flexible space where students, faculty and the public come together. A 64,600-square-foot vegetative “ribbon” – made up of a park, garden spaces, undulating green roof and a bio-filter wall – forms a single system of connected outdoor and indoor spaces. The 194,000-square-foot facility, designed in collaboration with Edward J. Cuhaci and Associates Architects, has previously won the SCUP/AIA-CAE Award for Excellence in Architecture and the Canadian Green Building Council Award for sustainable design.
CENTENNIAL COLLEGE LIBRARY
Centennial College’s Library and Academic Facility in Toronto features brick, copper and composite wood on the exterior cladding. A sequence of glazed vertical bays extends across the roofline to harvest daylight deep into the core. The light-filled atrium serves as a central meeting point on campus. “The building is massed in three rectangular bars that stagger slightly in section,” says Donald Schmitt, principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects. “It’s a very simple plan that is legible and provides a sense of comfort, safety and wellbeing for students.”
BRIDGEPOINT ACTIVE HEALTHCARE
Bridgepoint Active Healthcare is a collaborative undertaking. Stantec Architecture / KPMB Architects acted as Planning, Design and Compliance Architects, and HDR Architecture / Diamond Schmitt Architects are the architects to the Design, Build, Finance and Maintain consortium responsible for the design as constructed and are the Architects of Record. The design of this 680,000-square-foot facility gives architectural expression to the salutogenic approach to healthcare at Bridgepoint with an emphasis on connections to nature and with an abundance of natural light and views. “The distinction between public and private space has been deliberately blurred to foster community engagement and patient access to nature,” says Greg Colucci, principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects.
More than 30 winners across nine categories will be honoured on May 9 in Montreal as part of the OAA’s annual conference.
ALL ABOUT DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS
Diamond Schmitt Architectss a leading Canadian full-service architectural practice. The firm is recognized for excellence in the design of award-winning, academic and research buildings, commercial and health care institutions and performing-arts centres.
For more information, visit http://www/dsai.ca/