Governor General's Medals in Architecture — 2014 Recipient | Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

Governor General's Medals in Architecture — 2014 Recipient

60 Richmond East Housing Co-Operative
Toronto
ON
Award Category: 
Governor General’s Medals in Architecture

Teeple Architects Inc.

Lead design architect(s): 

Stephen Teeple, FRAIC

Located in downtown Toronto, this LEED Gold housing co-operative provides an alternative to the ubiquitous local glass towers. Terraces are carved out of the building’s solid mass to create social spaces and gardens on various levels. The project houses relocated hospitality workers from Regent Park, a deteriorating social-housing community undergoing redevelopment. The residents operate a restaurant and training kitchen on the ground floor and a community garden on the sixth-floor terrace. The garden provides food for the restaurant and uses organic waste generated by the kitchens as compost. This creates a self-sustaining condition called “urban permaculture.”

Jury Comment(s): 

"This is a socially admirable project that very much transcends the type and stands as an exemplar for urban housing. The building design takes apart the various program components and recombines them into a complex, sustainable and very urban hive of neighbourhoods. It is extremely gratifying to see a social housing project rise so far above mere accommodation."

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Photo: Shai Gil

Photo: Scott Norsworthy

Photo: Shai Gil

Photo: Scott Norsworthy

Photo: Shai Gil