Governor General's Medals in Architecture — 2018 Recipient | Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

Governor General's Medals in Architecture — 2018 Recipient

Casey House
Toronto,
ON
Award Category: 
Governor General’s Medals in Architecture

Hariri Pontarini Architects

Lead design architect(s): 

Siamak Hariri, FRAIC, Partner-In-Charge

Occupancy: 2017
Construction Budget: $40 million

The renovation and extension to Casey House, a specialized healthcare facility for individuals with HIV/AIDS, meets the needs of patients and healthcare providers in a setting designed to evoke the experience and comforts of home. With 14 new inpatient rooms and new Day Health Program servicing a roster of 200 registered clients, the 5,481-square-metre addition brings much-needed space and modernized amenities to the heritage-designated Victorian mansion. The new structure embraces the restored existing building, preserving its qualities and organizes the day-to-day user experience around a new central courtyard. Beautifully landscaped, the courtyard is visible from every corridor and in-patient room. 

Jury Comment(s): 

"While carefully restoring the original century-old house, the expansion offers comfort, light and beauty to a population that has historically been underserved. The intimacy of the plan and the rich materiality turns the idea of a clinical environment on its head. The material palette is extensive and the discrete formal elements are many, but are handled with exceptional rigour and care, thereby transcending the ornate. The façade’s varied articulation and massing keep the new building in scale with the original building, as well as maintaining a harmonious ambiance and human scale for the workers, patients, residents and neighbours."  

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Photo: Hariri Pontarini Architects

Photo: doublespace Photography

Photo: doublespace Photography

Photo: doublespace Photography

Photo: doublespace Photography