Audain Art Museum in Whistler, B.C. has been recognized with a 2018 RIBA Award for International Excellence. The prestigious annual awards by the Royal Institute of British Architects celebrate some of the world’s best completed buildings.

The Audain Art Museum by Vancouver-based Patkau Architects was one of 20 buildings selected from entries to the world’s most prestigious award for architecture, the RIBA International Prize 2018.

The exceptional buildings come from 16 countries ranging from large urban infrastructure schemes to private homes; cultural destinations to civic spaces; educational buildings to places of worship.

Completed in 2016, the design by Patkau Architects delivers a very elegant gallery which exploits its beautiful forest setting. It uses the site and climate constraints to inform the design that is modest, considered and well built. Whistler receives 15 feet of snow a year and the steeply sloped roofs which define the building shape is a result of this constraint.

The museum is the only Canadian winner and it most recently earned a 2018 Governor General’s Medal in Architecture (only B.C. project) and an AIA Award. The museum also has been honoured with a 2017 AIBC Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Award in Architecture and a 2017 Wood Design & Building Award.

“These 20 outstanding projects were selected for their architectural ambition, design ingenuity and excellence of execution. Importantly, they demonstrate the significant and far-reaching contribution that architecture makes to our daily lives,” said RIBA president Ben Derbyshire.

The RIBA International Prize 2018 will be awarded to the most significant and inspirational building of the year. The winning project will exemplify design excellence, architectural ambition and deliver meaningful social impact.

The shortlist of four buildings for the prize will be announced in September 2018 and the winner will be revealed in November 2018.

The Audain Art Museum was featured in the DQ summer 2016 issue.