OAQ Awards Two Grand Prix d’Excellence

John Hill

24. April 2023

Insectarium Metamorphosis (Photo: James Brittain; all images courtesy of v2com)

In a ceremony on the evening of April 23, the Ordre des Architectes du Québec (OAQ) unveiled the ten winners of its awards of excellence for 2023, including two Grand Prix d'Excellence.

The term “Grand Prix” implies one winner rising above the rest, but in 2023 the OAQ jury decided to award two grand prizes: one to the redesign of the Insectarium, part of the Space for Life complex in Montreal; and the second to the renovation of the Centre Culturel Desjardins in Joliette, in southwest Québec. For the first, the jury “was impressed by the immersive exhibition route, part of which invites visitors to discover insects through the perspective of their environment,” and for the second they “hailed the high-quality restoration of the Beaux-Arts–style auditorium.”

Another change to past years was the elimination of category prizes (Cultural, Single-Family Residential, etc.) “to encourage the nomination of smaller projects and those that are more difficult to categorize.” The jury thus evaluated submissions “as a whole, using criteria that, among other things, reflect the Ordre’s vision of socio-ecological transition.”

In addition to the ten awards of excellence, listed below, the jury awarded four individual distinctions to individuals and firms "for their commitments to inclusivity and quality in Quebec architecture." These included a posthumous Médaille du Mérite, OAQ’s highest distinction, to Claude Provencher; the Engagement Social Prize to Lafond Côté Architectes; the Relève en Architecture Prize (for emerging architects) to NÓS; and the Ambassadeur de la Qualité en Architecture Prize (given to a non-architect who champions architectural quality) to Marie-Josée Lacroix, Montreal’s first design commissioner.

The jury was chaired Renée Daoust (Daoust Lestage Lizotte + Stecker Architecture) and consisted of Laure Waridel (UQAM Institute of Environmental Sciences, Journal de Montréal), Isabelle Beauchamp (Blouin Tardif Architectes), Rami Bebawi (KANVA Architecture), and Vladimir Topouzanov (Saia Barbarese Topouzanov architectes).

Visit the OAQ website to see more images of the winning projects and read comments from the jury (in French).

Insectarium Metamorphosis (Photo: James Brittain)

Grand Prix d’Excellence:

INSECTARIUM METAMORPHOSIS

Design: Kuehn Malvezzi / Pelletier De Fontenay / Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architectes in consortium
Client: Space for Life
Location: Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Montreal

CENTRE CULTUREL DESJARDINS RENOVATION