Masonry Magazine May 1975 Page. 8
Winner of the Award of Excellence, Chester Village, Home for the Elderly, Toronto. (See facing page for details.)
Architectural Design Awards
The Ontario Masons' Relations Council has announced that the group's Award of Excellence winner is Sievenpiper Architect Planner for their design of Chester Village, Home of the Elderly, Toronto, Ontario. This Award of Excellence heads a list of seven made to architectural firms for design of unit masonry buildings of outstanding merit, with respect to design and workmanship, and which have been erected in Ontario within the past four years. This year there were 69 buildings submitted by 44 architectural firms. Each of the award winners is featured in this article.
The sponsor of the competition, the Ontario Masons' Relations Council, is a unique example of labor-management cooperation. It is an organization representing the Ontario Provincial Conference of the Bricklayers, Masons & Plasterers International Union, the Ontario Region of the Clay Brick Association of Canada, the Ontario Concrete Block Association, and the Ontario Masonry Contractors Association.
The judging was conducted by a jury of well-known Toronto architects, Edward R. Baldwin, Alastair G. Grant, and George D. Gibson, the latter being the Professional Advisor to the O.M.R.C. Awards.
Report of the Jury
This year's projects demonstrated that excellence in architecture is not always achieved through the use of expensive materials in complex ways, and that usually quite the reverse is the case. Furthermore, excellence in workmanship and choice of materials cannot substitute for thought and organization in design.
Many projects submitted failed to measure up to expected standards. In some instances attempts at innovation in the use of unit masonry were most unsuccessful: the masonry May, 1975