TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning wins Governor General’s medal in architecture

The TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning in Toronto has continued its winning ways, netting its designers a Governor General’s medal in architecture for 2010.

Industry accolades

Projects in Ontario were recipients of seven of the 12 awards

The TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning in Toronto has continued its winning ways, netting its designers a Governor General’s medal in architecture for 2010.

Designed by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects, the centre is the final phase in a master plan to build a new home for the Royal Conservatory of Music.

The overall project involved the progressive restoration of McMaster Hall and construction of the new centre to create “a unique hybrid” of a teaching and rehearsal facility and concert venue.

The awards jury said the links between the historical building and the new one “are very well composed.

“The choice of a rigorous and transparent construction for the new addition actually sets off very nicely the restoration of the old Victorian-looking building.”

The centre earlier this year was a recipient of a design excellence award from the Ontario Association of Architects.

Projects in Ontario were recipients of seven of the 12 Governor General’s medals that recognize outstanding design in recently built projects by Canadian architects.

Also in the winners’ circle were:

• Corkin Gallery in Toronto. (Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Inc.) A former pure spirit storage room was converted into a contemporary gallery in the city’s distillery district.

• French River Visitor Centre in Alban. (Baird Sampson Neuert Architects). Located off Highway 69 north of Parry Sound, the 8,500-square-foot facility houses exhibits and artifacts that animate the rich history of the French River.

• Photographer’s studio over a boat house at Stoney Lake. (gh3). The studio’s compact glass form sits on a granite plinth at water’s edge. The building is suspended “lantern-like” on the site.

• Prefab cottage for two families in Muskoka. (Kohn Shnier Architects). The year-round cottage is comprised of seven modules that required just 25 days to construct in an off-site facility. When assembled, the prefabricated units form a long, narrow building.

• Ravine guest house in Toronto. (Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Inc.) The building sits amidst a lush landscape abutting a ravine. Large glass and wood doors open fully to the outdoors.

• Craven Road studio in Toronto. (Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Inc.) Designed for study, display and storage purposes, the space receives indirect illumination through a system of narrow light coffers surrounding the perimeter.

Created by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the awards are administered by the institute in conjunction with the Canada Council for the Arts.

“The projects recognized this year are unique in their ability to blend the conceptual and the technical to bring together truly inspired contemporary Canadian architecture,” said RAIC president Randy Dhar.

The medals will be presented at a later date.