UOIT buildings receive awards for urban design excellence

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s (UOIT) Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) was recently recognized for its architecture and urban design excellence with an award from the City of Oshawa.

“We are very honoured to have received this award,” said Murray Lapp, Vice-President, Human Resources and Services, UOIT. “The Automotive Centre of Excellence is key to the advancement of automotive research, not only at UOIT but within the region and it is generating interest from a broad range of sectors. We would like to thank everyone involved in this project for helping create a space where researchers can find new solutions to automotive problems, and where future engineers can receive the experiential learning that will help them turn great new ideas into commercial projects in automotive and other industries.”

John Komar, Director, ACE, accepted the 2014 Urban Design Award on behalf of UOIT at a special ceremony held at the Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery on June 19. Seventeen projects were nominated, and ACE was one of eight projects to receive an award.

The Urban Design Awards program celebrates projects that reflect excellence in architecture and urban design and enhance the image of the city. More specifically, the program acknowledges the significant contributions that architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, developers, builders, renovators and other individuals make to the appearance, livability and quality of life in Oshawa.

The following criteria, approved by City Council, are used to judge submissions:

• Appreciation and expression of good urban design.
• Appropriateness of built form, orientation, scale, building material and use within its context.
• Conserving and enhancing existing site features and heritage features.
• Creating a sense of place and a human-scale relationship with the immediate context.
• Creativity, innovation and trend setting.
• Landscape architecture.
• Overall design.
• Positive contribution to a sustainable environment, including enhancement of the streetscape, pedestrian, cycling, and transit infrastructure and energy efficiency.
• Positive contribution to accessibility.
• Positive contribution to the public realm/quality of place.
• Successful integration with the surrounding land uses.

According to the Jury Report, “The Automotive Centre of Excellence building, which houses offices, labs and a massive wind tunnel, is extremely well designed and pleasing in appearance. The building face is interesting and modulated. Although large in scale, the building is well-integrated in its setting and forms a distinctive edge along the campus streetscape through landscape, modern signage and ample glazing. The building seems light and airy and has crisp lines that exhibit modern architecture and reflect the precise, critical technical work that goes on inside. The use of transparency contrasted with solid red brick, and the balance between street light and interior artificial light all play a critical role in enhancing the user and pedestrian experience. The architects and designers certainly ‘aced’ this project.”

ACE the first testing and research centre of its kind in Canada, and in many respects the world. It is located at UOIT’s north campus location in Oshawa, Ontario. This multi-purpose centre is divided into two distinct sections: a core research facility, which includes one of the largest and most sophisticated climatic wind tunnels on the planet; and an integrated research and training facility. At ACE, industry leaders, top researchers and some of the best and brightest students collaborate to create, test and validate paradigm-shifting innovations with a focus on bringing them to the market as rapidly as possible.

Dove Pusic, Owner, SonDal Plaster & Stone, also received the 2014 Urban Design Special Recognition Award for the restoration work he did on the Regent Theatre’s ceiling.

According to the Jury Report, “The ceiling in the auditorium of the Regent Theatre was always a beautiful and a highly regarded design element in the city. The recent refurbishment of this ceiling is an exceptional work of art and craft, and it restores an important piece of our heritage that was lost to the community. The University of Ontario Institute of Technology is commended for advancing the work on the ceiling and for the effort it took to reopen the theatre. The craftsperson responsible for executing the refurbishment is truly talented and deserves special recognition for his outstanding work in re-establishing what could have been a lost design element of the theatre and to the citizens of Oshawa. His work makes a statement of artistry and attention to detail. He truly deserves a special award for his outstanding work in re-establishing a lost jewel in this city.”