This week, the City of Toronto announced the 2019 winners of the biannual Toronto Urban Design Awards (TUDA), revealed at a gala attended by a who's who of the Toronto planning, urbanism, and architecture communities. The event was held at the Palais Royale, with Mayor John Tory addressing the crowd and revealing his new initiative, Design Forward Toronto, aimed at fostering a greater design culture throughout the city's urban spaces.

The outdoor event space of the Palais Royale at the 2019 TUDA gala, image by Julian Mirabelli

The TUDA are awarded to outstanding projects that improve or contribute to the appearance, liveability, and quality of the urban environment in Toronto. This year, the City received 113 entries across nine categories and gave nine Awards of Excellence, 12 Awards of Merit, and one Special Jury Award.

The entries are assessed by a jury comprised of five independent professionals in the fields of architecture, urbanism, and planning. This years jury members were: Jane Hutton, landscape architect and Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture; Nina-Marie Lister, Graduate Program Director and Associate Professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University and founding principal of PLANDFORM; David Miller, founding partner of MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects; Emmy Scholten, Head of Business Strategy at Benthem Crouwel Architects in Amsterdam; and Alexandru Taranu, Senior Advisor of Architectural Design for the City of Brampton.

Jury members (L-R): Nina-Marie Lister, Jane Hutton, Alexandru Taranu, Emmy Scholten, David Miller, image by City of Toronto

Here's a list of the 2019 winners, by category:

Category 1: Elements 

Awarded to a stand-alone object, public art installation, landscape element or small-scale piece of a building which contributes significantly to the quality of the public realm.

Award of Excellence: The Luminous Veil, Prince Edward Viaduct (Derick Revington Studio, Artist and Prime Consultant; Mulvey & Banani, Lighting and Electrical Engineers; Blackwell Structural Engineers)

The Luminous Veil on the Prince Edward Viaduct, image by Dereck Revington

Award of Excellence: The Blue Room, at 802, 834 & 940 College Street (uoai, Artist; PMA Landscape Architects; DPM Energy, Electrical Engineers)

The Blue Room on College Street, image by Stanislav Jurkovic

Award of Merit: Indigenous Cultural Markers, Humber College North & Lakeshore Campuses (Indigenous Design Studio/Brook McIlroy, Architects and Landscape Architects; Ryan Gorrie/David Thomas, Artists)

Indigenous Cultural Markers at Humber College, image by Jocelyn Squires

Award of Merit: Nathan Phillips Square Bicycle Station, in the underground parking garage at City Hall (uoai, Architects and Artist; Axon, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers; Blackwell Structural Engineers; PLANT and Perkins & Will, Architects of the overall Nathan Phillips Square Revitalization Project)

Nathan Phillips Square Bicycle Station at City Hall, image by Scott Norsworthy

Category 2A: Private Buildings in Context - Low-Scale

Awarded to an individual building or a composition of buildings of four storeys or less that achieves urban design excellence and is precedent-setting for a project of its type through its relationship to the public realm, pedestrian amenity, detailing and massing, and the natural environment.

Award of Merit: Casey House, 119 Isabella Street (Hariri Pontarini Architects; Mark Hartley Landscape Architects; Entuitive, Consulting Engineers; WSP Canada, Mechanical Consultant; ERA Architects, Heritage Consultant)

Casey House, image by Doublespace Photography

Category 2B: Private Buildings in Context - Mid-Rise

Awarded to an individual building or a composition of buildings taller than four storeys but no taller than the width of the adjacent street right-of-way, that achieves urban design excellence and is precedent-setting for a project of its type through its relationship to the public realm, pedestrian amenity, detailing and massing, and the natural environment.

Award of Merit: 109 OZ, 109 Ossington Avenue (RAW Design, Design Architect; Graziani + Corazza Architects, Architect of Record; Strybos Barron King, Landscape Architects; Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, Structural Engineers)

109 OZ, image by Jonathan Sabeniano

Award of Merit: DUKE, 2803 Dundas Street West (Quadrangle, Architects; Brook McIlroy, Landscape Architects; Smith and Andersen, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers; Blackwell Structural Engineering)

DUKE, image by Bob Gundu

Category 2C: Private Buildings in Context - Tall

Awarded to an individual building or a composition of buildings taller than the width of the adjacent street right-of-way that achieves urban design excellence and is precedent-setting for a project of its type through its relationship to the public realm, pedestrian amenity, detailing and massing, and the natural environment.

Award of Merit: SQ at Alexandra Park, 55 Cameron Street (Teeple Architects, Janet Rosenberg & Studio, Landscape Architects; GHD, Civil Engineers; Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, Structural Engineers; Novatrend Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers; EXP Global, Environmental Engineers)

SQ at Alexandra Park, image by Scott Norsworthy

Category 3: Public Buildings in Context

Awarded to an individual building or a composition of buildings with a primary function to serve the public and/or is largely accessible to the public that demonstrates urban design and architectural excellence through its relationship to the public realm, pedestrian amenity, detailing and massing, the natural environment, and sustainable design.

Award of Excellence: Albion Library, 1515 Albion Road (Perkins + Will, Architects; DTAH, Landscape Architects; The Hidi Group, Mechanical Engineers; Blackwell Structural Engineers)

Albion Library, image by Doublespace Photography

Award of Excellence: Daniels Building, University of Toronto, One Spadina Crescent (NADAAA, Design Architects; Adamson Associates Architects, Executive Architects; PUBLIC WORK, Landscape Architects; TMP, Entuitive, and A.M. Candara, Engineers; ERA Architects, Heritage Consultants)

The Daniels Building at University of Toronto, image by Nic Lehoux

Award of Merit: Odeyto Indigenous Centre at Seneca College, 1750 Finch Avenue East (Gow Hasting Architects; Two Row Architect; FORREC, Landscape Architects; V&R Engineering; Read Jones Christoffersen, Structural Engineers)

Odeyto Indigenous Centre at Seneca College, image by Tom Arban

Award of Merit: University of Toronto, Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 55 St. George Street (Montgomery Sisam Architects with Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios; NAK Design Strategies, Landscape Architects; Smith + Andersen, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers; Read Jones Christoffersen, Structural Engineers)

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship at University of Toronto, image by Tom Rideout

Category 4: Small Open Spaces

Award to a small open space, generally related to and defined by adjacent buildings or natural/built elements, which provides an extension and addition to the public realm in an exemplary way.

Award of Excellence: Trillium Park & William G. Davis Trail, at Ontario Place (LANDinc, Landscape Architects; Christopher Wallace Architect; West 8, Co-Designers; Blackwell Structural Engineers; Commonwealth Historic Resource Management, Heritage Consultant)

Trillium Park and William G. Davis Trail at Ontario Place, image by Nadia Molinari

Award of Merit: College Promenade BIA Streetscape and Parkettes, College Street between Havelock and Shaw (PMA Landscape Architects; DPM Energy, Electrical Engineers; uoai, Scott Eunson Studios, Artists)

College Promenade BIA Streetscape and Parkettes, image by James Brolly

Category 5: Large Places and/or Neighbourhood Designs

Awarded to a design plan for a new or renovated large-scale area of the city that demonstrates innovation related to infrastructure, environmental management, and sustainable design, and demonstrates community involvement and acceptance.

Award of Excellence: Grange Park Revitalization (PFS Studio with thinc design, Landscape Architects; Hariri Pontarini Architects; SCS Consulting Group, Civil and Stormwater Engineers; MMM Group, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers; Blackwell Structural Engineers)

Grange Park Revitalization, image by Brett Ryan

Award of Excellence: Berczy Park (Claude Cormier et Associés, Architects and Landscape Architects; Odan/Detech Group, Civil Engineers; Smith and Andersen, Electrical Engineers; Blackwell Structural Engineers; Luis Jacob, Artist; DEW Inc, Water Feature)

Berczy Park, image by Industryous Photography

Category 6: Visions and Master Plans

Awarded to unexecuted visions for the city, studies, and master plans of high inspirational value with the potential for significant impact on Toronto's development.

Award of Excellence: TOCore: Downtown Parks and Public Realm Plan (PUBLIC WORK, Landscape Architects and Urban Designers; Gehl Studio, Public Space/Public Life Consultants; Swerhun Facilitation, Public Engagement; Sam Schwartz Engineering, Transportation Planning)

Renderings of Rail Deck Park as part of TOCore Downtown Parks and Public Realm Plan, image by PUBLIC WORK

Award of Merit: Laneway Suites: A New Housing Typology for Toronto (Lanescape Inc, Architects; Evergreen, Consultants)

Massing Diagram from Laneway Suites: A New Housing Typology for Toronto, image by Lanescape Inc

Award of Merit: Humber Bay Park Master Plan (DTAH, Landscape Architects and Urban Designers; Mott MacDonald, Engineering Consultant; Schollen & Company, Landscape Restoration Specialists)

Humber Bay Park Master Plan, image by DTAH

Category 7: Student

Awarded to theoretical or studio projects situated in Toronto by students in urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, and other design programs.

Award of Excellence: The Urban Living Room, Toronto Port Lands (Zoal Razaq, University of Toronto)

The Urban Living Room, image by Zoal Razaq

Award of Merit: Spaces for Economic Diversity, North York and City-Wide (Yuxun Emmeily Zhang, University of Waterloo)

Spaces for Economic Diversity, image by Yuxun Emmeily Zhang

Special Jury Award for Catalytic Infrastructure

Port Lands Flood Protection & Enabling Infrastructure Project - Bridge Design and Engineering (Entuitive, Structural Engineer of Record; Grimshaw Architects; Quinn Design Associates, Landscape Architects; Planmac Engineering, Civil and Marine Engineers; Mulvey & Banani, Lighting and Electrical Engineers; Schlaich Bergermann Partner, Bridge Structural Designers; Ken Greenberg, Urban Planning; Ellis Don, Construction Manager)

Port Lands Flood Protection & Enabling Infrastructure Project Bridge Design and Engineering, image by Grimshaw Architects

This concludes the list of winners of the 2019 TUDA! You can follow the links below to the UrbanToronto Database files of some of the winning projects, and you can tell us what you think by leaving a comment below. We look forward to 2021 and the next round of Urban Design Awards. In the meantime, keep checking back on UrbanToronto for the latest updates on all projects happening in and around the GTA.

* * *

UrbanToronto has a new way you can track projects through the planning process on a daily basis. Sign up for a free trial of our New Development Insider here.