The Old Post Office Idea Exchange is one of 12 buildings across Canada to receive a 2022 Governor General’s Medal in Architecture from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA).
The biennial awards recognize and celebrate excellence in recently built—and designed—projects completed by Canadian architects.
The Idea Exchange was named among projects that represent a variety of building types and sizes—from a commercial mixed-use space, to a cottage, to various institutional building configurations. They include a reimagined theatre, a forest pavilion, a stormwater facility, and a history and dialogue centre.
Completed in October, 2018 with a construction budget of $12 million, the Idea Exchange adapted the 1885 post office to accommodate the digital library.
"Housed within a heritage structure in constant dialogue with its contemporary addition, the Idea Exchange Old Post Office projects the life and vitality of a progressive public library program to the street, the river, and the city beyond."
"The architects integrated contemporary volumes into a historic building with boldness and attention to the fine detail of the junctions between the new and existing structures," wrote members of the jury. "This creates a continuity by contrast. Lightened views among common spaces over the water and the gesture of daylight washing the historic façades create an interesting and coherent program."
The winners listed below include links to descriptions on the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada website.
The Idea Exchange Old Post Office, Galt, ON, RDH Architects (RDHA)
Cherry Street Stormwater Facility, Toronto, ON, gh3* and R.V. Anderson Associates Limited
60_80 Atlantic Avenue, Toronto, ON, BDP Quadrangle
Forest Pavilion, Winnipeg, MB, Public City Architecture
Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, Vancouver, BC, Formline Architecture
Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building & Louis A. Simpson International Building, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, KPMB Architects
Les Rochers, Bassin, QC, la Shed Architecture
Point William Cottage, Muskoka Lakes, ON, Shim-Sutcliffe Architects
Reception Pavilion of the Québec National Assembly, Quebec, QC, Provencher_Roy & GLCRM Architects
The Brearley School, New York, NY, KPMB Architects
Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford, ON, Hariri Pontarini Architects
Village at the End of the World, Kingsburg, NS, MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects
