Place des Arts’ unique architectural design earned it two awards recently in the Grands Prix du Design 16th edition.
The annual architectural awards launched in Montreal in 2007, “with the mission of recognizing the excellence of designers and architects who have distinguished themselves through exemplary practice,” according to their website.
The awards were exclusively open to Quebec firms for their first 13 years, and opened up internationally in 2020. Since that time, candidates from more than 35 countries have applied.
Place des Arts received two awards during the latest edition, including gold certification in the public/cultural building category, and platinum winner in the special prizes/architecture and collaboration category.
An international jury evaluated projects based on aesthetic, shape, function, expertise, creativity/originality/innovation, technology, social and environmental responsibility, and evocation of emotions and fun details.
“The building interacts with the street and sidewalk to invite pedestrians to enter, while its distinct and expressive facades interact with the surrounding neighborhood,” Grands Prix du Design wrote in their decision.
“Each side of the building reflects and reinforces the character of the urban landscape in front of it, through attention to the choice of materials, shapes and textures.”
The material used in the creation of Place des Arts is “an expression of its environment,” according to Grands Prix du Design.
“The raw masonry of the base of the building evokes the fractures of the rock walls and the textures of the mine shafts of the region, while the patina of the Corten steel which makes up the cladding of the building evokes the oxidized rock outcrops which indicated the presence of ore deposits, as well as old rusty mining structures dotted across the region's landscape,” they wrote.
“The evolution of the oxidation of the facade exposed to the elements will ensure that its patina will always change, never age, never new. Because the choice of each of its materials arises from a story, the building is in itself the narrative thread of a story to be transmitted to future generations. This building is a vessel carrying collective memories.”
Based in Downtown Sudbury, Place des Arts opened last year. It was first envisioned during the 2008 Greater Sudbury Francophonie Summit, which established the creation of a unifying cultural centre as a priority.
Its construction was a joint effort between Toronto-based Moriyama Teshima Architects and Sudbury-based Belanger Salach Architecture.
“Through their trusted and thought leadership, the two firms guided seven strong voices toward consensus, resulting in a versatile design capable of providing services to a wide variety of activities and uses while enriching the urban context surrounding,” according to Grands Prix du Design.
