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Ontario Wood Design Awards announces winners at OFIA conference

On Feb. 26, during the Ontario Forest Industries Association’s (OFIA’s) 77^th annual meeting and conference in downtown Toronto, the Canadian Wood Council’s (CWC’s) Wood Works! Program recognized the winners of the Ontario Wood Design Awards.

“We’re happy to partner with OFIA this year to recognize design and construction teams that are pushing the boundaries for wood construction,” said Marianne Berube, the program’s executive director.

Six awards were presented to celebrate the use of wood as a building material in projects that have demonstrated excellence, creativity and innovation across the province.

First, the institutional wood design award honoured +VG Architects and Stephenson Engineering’s plan for the King Township Municipal Administration Centre (pictured above) in King City, Ont. The 46,285-sf building, completed in February 2019, features tongued and grooved (T&G) wood decking, glued laminated (glulam) heavy timber columns and birch veneer panelling.

Shoppers Drug Mart flagship store. Photo: Scott Norsworthy.

The innovation wood design award showcased a Shoppers Drug Mart flagship store in Toronto, designed by Brook McIllroy, Petroff Architects, ERA Architects and structural engineer Blackwell. Located one block south of the intersection of Yonge and Bloor Streets, the 22,027-sf store was completed in December 2019 and features not only four levels of glulam post-and-beam framing, but also the city’s first use of all-wood elevator and stairwell shafts.

Kenora Airport terminal building. Photo: Ryan T. Fisher Photography.

The low-rise commercial wood design award recognized a new 10,915-sf airport terminal building in Kenora, Ont., for which WSP Canada served as both structural engineer and architect, through its company Architecture49. Open since September 2018, the one-storey building uses locally sourced wood as a key structural element. Its roof and floor joists, too, were manufactured within Kenora.

The mid-rise residential wood design award honoured Richard Wengle Architect and Gamaley & Associates Engineering’s work on the $60-million Deerhurst Lakeside Lodge Resort Homes in Huntsville, Ont. The five-storey, 155,000-sf condominium building, completed in February 2019, incorporates prefabricated light wood frame wall panels and a light wood roof truss system.

Lakeview Gathering Place. Photo: Ruth Elder.

The Northern Ontario wood design award showcased the Lakeview Gathering Place, a 16,469-sf Temagami First Nation multi-use facility on Bear Island, designed by Larocque Elder Architects (LEA) and A2S Consulting Engineers and completed in November 2019. The building’s superstructure is almost exclusively wood, including stick-framed walls, engineered build-up beams, glulam beams, i-joists and trusses.

80 Atlantic. Photo: Doublespace Photography.

Finally, the mass timber wood design award recognized Quadrangle and RJC Engineers’ work on 80 Atlantic in downtown Toronto. This mid-rise commercial building is reportedly the province’s first in 100-plus years to use a timber frame, thanks to revisions in 2015 to Ontario’s Building Code. The 90,000-sf, five-storey office building with ground-floor retail was completed on Oct. 31, 2019.

“These design and construction teams are revolutionizing the way we think about wood in construction,” said Jamie Lim, OFIA’s president and CEO.

This article was originally published by Canadian Consulting Engineer, an Annex Business Media publication.