Top architecture talent in Canada was recently singled out by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts for the annual Governor General’s Medals in Architecture. This year 12 projects received a nod through the program, which recognizes “outstanding achievement” in new projects by Canadian architects that positively impact the country’s built environment.

Among the list of winners are buildings for higher education, community and cultural centres, a church, a museum, and two residences. The winning projects, notes Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, “make us appreciate the degree to which Canadian architects have transformed the places where we live, work, share culture and come together into a celebration of beauty and human genius.”

Winners were selected by a jury of architects: Professor Manfred Sabatke, (Stuttgart, Germany); Pina Petricone (Toronto); John McMinn (Toronto); Anne Cormier (Montréal); and Steve Christer (Reykjavik, Iceland).

An awards ceremony will be held October 16. The complete list of winners is below.

• Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto (Toronto) - ArchitectsAlliance & Behnisch Architekten
• Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre (Osoyoos, British Columbia) - Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects
• Jaypee Institute of Information Technology (Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India) - Le Groupe Arcop
• Canada’s National Ballet School Project Grand Jeté (Toronto) - Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects & Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects, Architects in Joint Venture
• ROAR_one (Vancouver) - Lang Wilson Practice in Architecture Culture Inc. and Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects, Associated Architects
• House at 4a Wychwood Park (Toronto) - Ian MacDonald Architect Inc.
• New Canadian War Museum (Ottawa, Ontario) - Moriyama & Teshima Architects, Griffiths Rankin Cook Architects: Architects in Joint Venture
• Gleneagles Community Centre (West Vancouver, British Columbia) - Patkau Architects
• Winnipeg Centennial Library Addition (Winnipeg, Manitoba) - Patkau / LM Architectural Group
• Communication, Culture and Technology Building, University of Toronto (Mississauga, Ontario) - Saucier + Perrotte architects
• Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church (Scarborough, Ontario) - Teeple Architects
• Trent Chemical Sciences Building (Peterborough, Ontario) - Teeple Architects and associate architects Shore Tilbe & Irwin