Winners of the 2021 Prix d’excellence en architecture

The Ordre des architectes du Québec (OAQ) announced the winners of the 2021 Prix d’excellence en architecture, eleven architectural projects in nine different categories plus a special “Grand Prix d'excellence en architecture” and a People’s Choice award.

The prize, awarded since 1978, became an annual event in 2019, reserved for OAQ members. Its purpose is to recognise and highlight quality contemporary architecture, promoting awareness of quality in architecture among the general public.
OAQ president Pierre Corriveau emphasised that “ architectural quality results from a thorough, disciplined approach that, among other things, reconciles the needs of users and the wider community by offering functional, sustainable solutions”.
The Prix d’excellence en architecture thus becomes an opportunity to celebrate quality in architecture and the architects who bring it about.

The online gala held on April 1 saw the announcement of the winners of the People’s Choice award and the winners selected in each category by the jury, chaired by architect Jean-Pierre Crousse (Barclay&Crousse Architecture) and composed of Christiane Germain, co-president of Germain Hôtels, and architects Marc Blouin (Blouin Orzes architectes) and Kim Pariseau (APPAREIL Architecture), as well as Professor Pedro Ressano Garcia (Ressano Garcia Arquitectos, Lisbon) of the Université Laval School of Architecture.

The “Grand Prix d'excellence en architecture” and the Prix du Public went to the renovation of the Grand Théâtre de Québec by Lemay and Atelier 21. The two architectural studios brought new life to the iconic theatre building designed by architect Victor Prus and opened in 1971
. The priority in the project was preservation of the theatre’s exterior, which features a spectacular mural by sculptor Jordi Bonet. The artwork covers about 60% of the building’s perimeter, both outside and inside the building. The architects of Lemay and Atelier 21 designed a transparent outer envelope that follows the shape of the theatre building to protect the great modernist artwork without blocking the view of it: a bold, innovative approach, as the jury notes. The structure designed by the architects consists of slender steel frames from which 900 plates of glass are suspended. The new transparent envelope protects the mural, and with it, the building’s value as part of the artistic and architectural heritage of the city of Québec, becoming a key interface between the theatre and the city, but without altering the integrity of the urban whole.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Images courtesy of Ordre des architectes du Québec
Thanks to v2com

Winners of the 2021 Prix d’excellence en architecture, by category

Grand prix d’excellence and Prix du public (People’s Choice)
Project: Building envelope restoration, Grand Théâtre de Québec
Design: Lemay/Atelier 21
Client: Grand Théâtre de Québec
Location: Québec City
Photos: Stéphane Groleau

Cultural Building
Project: Pôle culturel de Chambly
Design: Atelier TAG and Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architectes in consortium
Client: Ville de Chambly
Location: Chambly
Photos: Adrien Williams/CS Design

Public Institutional Building
Project: Visitor centre, Base de plein air de Sainte-Foy
Design: Patriarche
Client: Ville de Québec
Location: Borough of Sainte-Foy, Québec City
Photos: Stéphane Groleau

Commercial/Industrial Building
Project: Förena Cité thermale
Design: Blouin Tardif Architectes
Client: Groupe SkySpa
Location: Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville
Photos: Raphaël Thibodeau

Multi-Unit Residential Building/Complex
Project: Saint-Michel Housing
Design: SBTA Inc.
Client: Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal
Location: Borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Montréal
Photos: James Brittain

Single-Family Residential Building, Urban Setting
Project: La Doyenne
Design: _naturehumaine
Client: Nicolas Crowley
Location: Borough of Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montréal
Photos: Raphaël Thibodeau

Single-Family Residential Building, Natural Setting (2 winners)
Project: hinterhouse
Design: Ménard Dworkind architecture & design
Client: hintercompany
Location: La Conception
Photos: David Dworkind and Alex Lesage

Project: Les blocs de bois
Design: Yiacouvakis Hamelin architectes_ yh2
Location: Lac Memphrémagog
Photos: Maxime Brouillet

Interior Design
Project: LightSpeed, Phase 3
Design: ACDF Architecture
Client: LightSpeed POS Inc.
Location: Montréal
Photos: Maxime Brouillet

Heritage Enhancement
Project: Verdun Auditorium
Design: Les architectes FABG
Client: City of Montréal, Borough of Verdun
Location: Borough of Verdun, Montréal
Photos: Steve Montpetit

Uncategorized Work
Project: Skating rink, Parc des Saphirs
Design: ABCP architecture
Client: City of Boischatel
Location: Boischatel
Photos: Stéphane Groleau

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