Queen's Park Picks 2022

The OAA’s Queen’s Park Picks (QP Picks) program asks Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) to share their favourite buildings or other structures from their ridings to be showcased as part of an annual celebration of architecture. The Association’s Policy Advisory Coordination Team (PACT) reviews the nominations and selects a shortlist of outstanding projects to mark World Architecture Day, held annually on the first Monday of October. For 2023, the OAA will share the list of nine projects on Tuesday, October 3 as the provincial government will be honouring the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on the Monday.

An emerging theme from last year’s QP Picks was community, with numerous buildings playing important roles as spaces where people gather. As public health restrictions continue to ease and members of the public find themselves sharing spaces once again, the important role of community-centred buildings has come to the fore. In 2022, nominations were received from MPPs from all regions across the province, with submissions by members of all parties highlighting some of Ontario’s most beloved gathering spaces while also showcasing the diversity of our built environment. The OAA looks forward to revealing this year’s list on October 3.

“I am so thrilled that year after year, our Members of Provincial Parliament join us in recognizing the marvelous examples of Ontario architecture found in all parts of our province. We must continue to respect and revere these beautiful places that form a crucial part of our social fabric.”

- OAA President, Susan Speigel

The OAA and MPPs Celebrate Ontario Architecture with Queen's Park Picks

The OAA once again celebrates World Architecture Day virtually in 2022. Traditionally, the OAA marks this occasion (which falls on the first Monday in October) with a reception for Members of Provincial Parliament at Queen’s Park to reveal the year’s Queen’s Park Picks (QP Picks). The event is a unique opportunity to showcase outstanding examples of Ontario architecture through the nominations of passionate MPPs across the province.

2022 Selections

Each year, the selection process is a painstaking deliberation by architects at the Ontario Association of Architects. While we can't feature them all, we do want to recognize these architectural works throughout Ontario and the dedicated MPPs who, each year, take the time to share this part of their communities with all of us.

Abilities Centre

Location: Whitby, Ontario
Date of Completion: 2012
Architect: B+H Architects Corp.
Nominated by: Lorne Coe, MPP (Whitby)

Adawe Crossing

Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Date of Completion: 2015
Architect: Stantec Architecture Ltd.
Nominated by: Lucille Collard, MPP (Ottawa—Vanier)

Franklin Carmichael Art Centre
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1932
Architect: N/A
Nominated by: Hon. Doug Ford, MPP (Etobicoke North)

Holy Protection of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church
Location: Guelph, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1962
Architect: Evhen Gren
Nominated by: Mike Schreiner, MPP (Guelph)

Jeremiah McKay Kabayshewekamik
Location: Sioux Lookout, Ontario
Date of Completion: 2011
Architect: ft3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design in association with Manasc Isaac Architects (now Reimagine)
Nominated by: Sol Mamakwa, MPP (Kiiwetinoong)
Place des Arts

Location: Sudbury, Ontario
Date of Completion: 2022
Architect: Moriyama & Teshima Architects in joint venture with Bélanger Salach Architecture (formerly Yallowega Belanger Salach Architecture)
Nominated by: Jamie West, MPP (Sudbury)

Union Station

Location: Toronto, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1927
Architect: Ross and MacDonald, Hugh Jones (Assistant Chief Architect, Canadian Pacific Railway) and John M. Lyle Architect
Dates of Renovation/Addition:1970s, 2022
Architects of Renovation/Addition: (2022) NORR Architects & Engineers Limited, EVOQ Architecture Inc., Zeidler Architecture, PARTISANS (interior), IBI Group (second platform)
Nominated by: Chris Glover, MPP (Spadina—Fort York)
Victoria County Gaol

Location: Lindsay, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1863
Architect: Cumberland and Storm
Dates of Renovation/Addition:1927, 1982, 2011
Architects of Renovation/Addition:
Nominated by: Laurie Scott, MPP (Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock)
Victoria Hall

Location: Brockville, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1864
Architect: Henry H. Horsey
Dates of Renovation/Addition:1880, 1904
Architects of Renovation/Addition: O. E. Liston
Nominated by: Steve Clark, MPP (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes)

2022 Queen's Park Picks

Large, curved, metal-clad structure with curtain wall windows adjoining a rectangular metal and glass building.

Image:

Toni Hafkenscheid courtesy of B+H Architects Corp

1

The athlete-inspired curve of the Abilities Centre.

eft: looking through full height windows into a large, open, running track area. Right: Indoor running track with large, curved metal structure.

Image:

Toni Hafkenscheid courtesy of B+H Architects Corp

2

Left: Interior of the main space. Right: The impressive steel structure that creates the centre’s curved shape.

A person in a wheelchair, others, and children painting art around a table.

Image:

Toni Hafkenscheid courtesy of B+H Architects Corp.

3

A space designed for all users.

Abilities Centre

Location: Whitby, Ontario
Date of Completion: 2012
Architect: B+H Architects Corp.
Nominated by: Lorne Coe, MPP (Whitby)

Setting a global standard for accessibility and inclusion in sports, Whitby’s Abilities Centre is an internationally renowned community space that improves the quality of life for people of all ages and abilities through health, wellbeing, and inclusion.

Pedestrian bridge with two polished balls over turbulent river.

Image:

Courtesy of Stantec Architecture Ltd.

1

The crossing over the Rideau river.

Archival black and white photograph showing a wooden footbridge across the river to Rideau Tennis Club.

2

Early wooden footbridge to Rideau Tennis Club, 1925

Alt Text: Left: people walking over bridge, with polished ball artwork in foreground. Right: close up of polished metal ball over river reflecting the surrounding landscape.

Image:

Left: Courtesy of Stantec Architecture Ltd. | Right: Acadie77, Wikicommons

3

Left: approach to Adàwe Crossing. Right: close up of artwork.

Adawe Crossing

Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Date of Completion: 2015
Architect: Stantec Architecture Ltd.
Nominated by: Lucille Collard, MPP (Ottawa—Vanier)

With a name meaning “to trade” in Algonquin, Adàwe Crossing provides a critical missing link in Ottawa’s pedestrian and cycling transportation network, fulfilling a long-held promise to reconnect two historically linked communities and supporting a more active and sustainable future

Read More

A two-storey log-clad house with gabled roofs set within a woodsy landscape of mature trees.

Image:

Kurtis Chen

1

Rear of Franklin Carmichael Art Centre.

Donkey easels in the foreground of a space with cathedral ceilings and windows in the distance.

Image:

Kurtis Chen

2

Inside the second floor studio at the Franklin Carmichael Arts Centre.

Donkey easels arranged in a room. Centre: framed painting of trees hung on a wall. Right: commemorative plaque fixed to rock at the base of a tree.

Image:

Kurtis Chen

3

Left: The second floor studio of the centre. Centre: one of the many paintings adorning the interior. Right: a plaque on the grounds dedicated to the memory of Dr. Agnes Anne Curtin.

Franklin Carmichael Art Centre

Location: Toronto, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1932
Architect: N/A
Nominated by: Hon. Doug Ford, MPP (Etobicoke North)

A gift to the city by one of its most celebrated residents, Thistletown’s Franklin Carmichael Art Centre is the fulfilment of a life-long dream to bring the people of Toronto’s North Etobicoke neighbourhood together through community and the arts.

Read More

Perspective of a brick church with hip roofs and three onion domes projecting out of the top.

Image:

Tony – stock.adobe.com

1

Holy Protection of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church at sunset.

Wooden church with ground floor arcade, overlapping roofs, and three upward projecting onion domes topped with crosses.

Image:

Elena Kurylo, Wikiwand.

2

St George’s Church in Drohobych is a 15th century timber Ukrainian Church exhibiting similar features to St Mary’s, including three part plan, onion domes, and the tallest dome over the nave.

Holy Protection of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church

Location: Guelph, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1962
Architect: Evhen Gren
Nominated by: Mike Schreiner, MPP (Guelph)

Expressive of the traditions and heritage of the community it serves, Guelph’s Holy Protection of Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church stands proudly as a symbol of Ukrainian culture in Canada.

Wide, two-storey building with leaning wooden posts and a central entrance with a hand-drum inspired shape.

Image:

Courtesy of FT3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design.

1

Front approach to the Jeremiah McKay Kabayshewekamik.

Left: side perspective of building showing drum shape of atrium and facade. Right: leaning logs support shading fins attached to the facade.

Image:

Courtesy of FT3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design.

2

Left: A closer view of the facility. Right: Locally sourced logs support the building’s solar shading.

Looking up at a steel and wood structure with red, yellow, white, and black painted patterns indicated cardinal directions.

Image:

Courtesy of FT3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design.

3

Interior of atrium, looking up.

Left: metal sign with text and paw prints. Right: paw print pattern on a wall.

Image:

Courtesy of FT3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design.

4

Left: wayfinding signs are in latin characters and Canadian syllabic. Right: paw prints aid in navigation.

Jeremiah McKay Kabayshewekamik

Location: Sioux Lookout, Ontario
Date of Completion: 2011
Architect: ft3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design in association with Manasc Isaac Architects (now Reimagine)
Nominated by: Sol Mamakwa, MPP (Kiiwetinoong)

A place to rest and get healthy, the Jeremiah McKay Kabayshewekamik carefully integrates local materials and Indigenous culture to provide a home away from home to members of 33 First Nations seeking services in this northern Ontario healthcare centre.

Perspective of a building with angular oxidized steel facade and curtain wall windows.

Image:

Tom Arban courtesy of Bélanger Salach Architecture

1

The oxidized steel facade of Place des Art projects towards Elgin Street.

Looking towards the stage of a theatre with multi-level seating arranged in a semi-circular pattern.

Image:

Tom Arban courtesy of Bélanger Salach Architecture

2

300-seat proscenium-style theatre.

Left: a perspective of a building showing angular steel facade projection and large curtain wall windows. Right: closer perspective of angular steel facade with variations in texture.

Image:

Tom Arban courtesy of Bélanger Salach Architecture

3

Left: the west facade at night. Right: Steel facade panels showing different levels of oxidation.

Wide angle panorama showing a bistro with seating, tables, and a warm wood ceiling.

Image:

Tom Arban courtesy of Bélanger Salach Architecture

4

The bistro with its bread pan art installation in the distance.

Left: book shop with historic, oxidized ceiling panels. Right: white gallery space with art installation in the middle of the floor space and hanging from the ceiling.

Image:

Tom Arban courtesy of Bélanger Salach Architecture

5

Left: bookshop showing repurposed tin panels. Right: exhibition space. Photos: Tom Arban courtesy of Yallowega Belanger Salach Architecture

Place des Arts

Location: Sudbury, Ontario
Date of Completion: 2022
Architect: Moriyama & Teshima Architects in joint venture with Bélanger Salach Architecture (formerly Yallowega Belanger Salach Architecture)
Nominated by: Jamie West, MPP (Sudbury)

Bringing together seven Franco-Ontarian arts organizations, Sudbury’s Place des Arts is a bold new facility that carefully blends respect and reverence for the city’s past with unabashed optimism for the region’s future.

A grand limestone building with large doric columns and classical decorative elements.

Image:

iStock.com/JHVEPhoto

1

Front of Union Station.

A large interior space with a tall arched ceiling and a large clock in the middle.

Image:

iStock.com/AndresGarciaM

2

The Great Hall at Union Station looking east.

Black and white aerial perspective drawing of train station amongst closely packed buildings and a harbour in the background.

Image:

Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.

3

Union station from above.

Left: large, modern glass box supported over a new train station entrance. Right: Long perspective of light-filled train platform with simple wooden structure above.

4

Left, new south entrance to Union Station. Right, new platform for Union Pearson Express.

Union Station

Location: Toronto, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1927
Architect: Ross and MacDonald, Hugh Jones (Assistant Chief Architect, Canadian Pacific Railway) and John M. Lyle Architect
Dates of Renovation/Addition:1970s, 2022
Architects of Renovation/Addition: (2022) NORR Architects & Engineers Limited, EVOQ Architecture Inc., Zeidler Architecture, PARTISANS (interior), IBI Group (second platform)
Nominated by: Chris Glover, MPP (Spadina—Fort York)

“You build your stations like we build our cathedrals.”

-Edward, Prince of Wales
August 6, 1927 at the Opening of Union Station

One of Canada’s finest examples of Beaux-Arts architecture, Toronto’s Union Station has served as the city’s grand gateway for almost a century—welcoming millions of visitors and commuters every year and playing a critical role in shaping the city we see today.

Read More

A symmetrical white-painted stone building with arched windows, a large door in the middle, and two gable roofs on either side.

Image:

Courtesy of Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives

1

The front facade as it was in 1977.

Left: aerial perspective of a large jail building with three courtyards enclosed by walls and barbed wire. Right: interior photograph of inmate cells with gates open.

Image:

Courtesy of Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives

2

Left: three rear courtyards enclosed by tall walls. Right: interior cells.

Left: A long stone building lines a street in front of a field. The building has two low masses lined with iconic colonnades on either side of a taller square mass and attached portico. Right: A postcard shows a black and white image of a narrow façade with a round portico against the painted surroundings of rushing water on the left and green grass in front of the building.

Image:

Courtesy of the Niagara Falls (Ontario) Public Library.

3

Left: Right: Postcard of Northern façade.

Victoria County Gaol

Location: Lindsay, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1863
Architect: Cumberland and Storm
Dates of Renovation/Addition:1927, 1982, 2011
Architects of Renovation/Addition: John T. Hornsby (1927 verandah)
Nominated by: Laurie Scott, MPP (Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock)

A solemn structure in Lindsay’s former justice district, the Victoria County Gaol—now the Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives—stands as testament to the values and ideas behind incarceration in 1800s Canada and the establishment of our modern prison system.

A stone building with hip roofs, dormers, and a tall clock tower amongst trees and neighbouring houses.

Image:

pixs:sell – stock.adobe.com

1

Rear perspective of Victoria Hall with its former market hall in the foreground.

Left: historic black and white photograph of a symmetrical building with large arched windows and a central clock tower. Right: historic black and white perspective photo of Victoria Hall on city street with surrounding brick buildings, sidewalk, and road.

Image:

Left: Courtesy of Toronto Public Library. Right: featured by Old Brockville Photographs.

2

Left: Victoria Hall, 1880 from “A souvenir of Brockville” Right: Victoria hall situated amongst its neighbours on King Street.

Victoria Hall

Location: Brockville, Ontario
Date of Completion: 1864
Architect: Henry H. Horsey
Dates of Renovation/Addition:1880, 1904
Architects of Renovation/Addition: O. E. Liston
Nominated by: Steve Clark, MPP (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes)

Standing proud as a symbol of self-governance, community, and economic success, Brockville’s Victoria Hall has been serving its residents for more than 100 years, adapting to the changing needs of its citizens and preserving an important connection with their past.

These projects form our Queen’s Park Picks 2022 series. We hope you enjoyed learning more about them. Check out last year's series here or the full series on the blOAAg, or view the map below to learn more about great buildings across the province!

Queen's Park Picks - Past and Present

Spanning seven years, the Queen’s Park Picks represent most regions in Ontario. The architecture is varied, ranging across multiple eras and styles of architecture. Some of the QP Picks were nominated because they were an MPP’s favourite building, some were important community or cultural landmarks, and some may simply have been a built space your local MPP wanted to know more about. Put together, they create a growing database of compelling examples of our province’s built environment.

This year’s QP Picks are in teal blue. You can click on them to learn more about the project, or expand the map by selecting the top right corner to get even more background.