The Ontario Association of Architects recently held its Celebration of Excellence Awards to showcase the best in architectural design and innovation in Canada.

Nine new buildings, located in Toronto, London, Thunder Bay, Georgian Bay, Edmonton and Vancouver, were honoured in this year’s Design Excellence category.The award-winning projects this year illustrate how architecture can adapt to the needs of a community as it grows and over time.

“This year’s Design Excellence Award honourees stand not only as beautiful buildings, but also as examples of architecture’s ability to creatively problem solve,” said Toon Dreessen, OAA president, in a press release. “From multi-generational housing to adaptive reuse of underutilized sites to flexible spaces that can be reconfigured to users’ needs, Ontario’s architects are once again showing their ability to respond to the changing needs of our communities and our society.”

In addition to the Design Excellence Awards, which were announced prior to the ceremony, three more awards were presented during the gala: the Lieutenant Governor’s Award, presented to the Richard Ivey Building at the Richard Ivey School of Business; the Michael V. and Wanda Plachta Award, presented to Brook McIlroy Inc. for Prince Arthur’s Landing on the Thunder Bay Waterfront; and the People’s Choice award, decided by public vote, was presented to the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.

The awards were presented to recipients at the 2016 OAA Celebration of Excellence Awards Ceremony and Dinner, which took place at the Allstream Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto on May 13. Attendees included the province’s top architects, building industry guests, clients of the winning projects and those with a passion for architecture.

To see the full list of award recipients, visit http://www.oaa.on.ca/the%20oaa/awards.