The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has announced the shortlist for the 2022 RAIC International Prize for socially transformative architecture.

In the shortlist, three projects, including Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool in Alberta by gh3*, Stade de Soccer de Montréal in Montreal by Quebec Saucier+Perrotte and HCMA Architects in joint venture and The Warming Huts in Winnipeg by Sputnik Architecture Inc. and numerous collaborators, are competing to be the winner of 2022 RAIC International Prize.

The three projects were selected by a nine-member jury, including Susan Ruptash - FRAIC, Architect, OAA, Amale Andraos - Hon. FRAIC, Co-founder of WORKac, Peter Busby, C.M., FRAIC, LEED® Fellow, Global Design Principal, Perkins&Will. 

 The prize winner will be announced and celebrated virtually in June 2022.

2022 marks the fourth edition of the biennial prize, which was founded in 2013 and is open to architects from anywhere in the world.

"These three projects, shortlisted for the RAIC International Prize, epitomize the values of this special award – that the projects be socially transformative, as well as promoting human values. This short list is a testament to the quality of Canadian architecture and architectural practice today," said Jury Chair Susan Ruptash Architect, FRAIC OAA.

Awarded every two years, the RAIC International Prize is open to all architects, irrespective of nationality and location, and the winner is selected in an open, juried competition.   

In addition to the main prize, three scholarships of CAD $5,000 each will be awarded to three students registered in a Canadian architecture program on the basis of a written essay. 

See the three shortlisted projects for the 2022 RAIC International Prize with their short descriptions below: 

Image © gh3*

Image © gh3*

Image © gh3*

Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool, Edmonton, Alberta by gh3* 

Date of Occupancy: July 2019 

"Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool is the first chemical-free outdoor swimming pool to be built in Canada. The pool features a balanced ecosystem where plants, micro-organisms and nutrients come together through a natural filtering process to create “living water”. This nature-based technology inspired a materials-oriented architectural concept for the facility and a rigorous and aesthetically integrated design that visually evokes the concept of filtration. The elemental form and reductive materials welcome the user and enrich the narrative of bathing in the landscape while promoting exercise and wellbeing in a joyous place for public social gathering and community building." Read More.

Image © Olivier Blouin Photographe

Image © Olivier Blouin Photographe

Image © Olivier Blouin Photographe

Stade de Soccer de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec by Saucier+Perrotte / HCMA Architects in joint venture 

Date of Occupancy: April 2015

"On the site of the former Miron quarry, Montreal’s new soccer stadium emerges from the park’s artificial topography as a mineral stratum that recalls the geological nature of the site. The mineral ‘layer’ is articulated by a continuous roof that cantilevers over the entry plaza, folds down over the interior soccer field and extends to the ground to accommodate spectator seating for the outdoor field. Simultaneously responding to the site and the program requirements, the dramatic roof structure develops that Stadium as a distinctive and unified presence in the community with an innovative hybrid wood structure composed of both cross laminated timber and glulam elements." Read More.

Pontagon. Image © Jonathan Watts

Hygge Exterior. Image © Pike Projects, Plain Projects, and URBANINK

Tagaq steel. Image © Leif Norman

The Warming Huts, Winnipeg, Manitoba by Sputnik Architecture Inc. and numerous collaborators 

Date of Occupancy: February 2010

"The Warming Huts are a recurring architectural project built on the frozen rivers of Winnipeg every winter. Playful but significant works of architecture, they have been created over more than a decade with thousands of collaborators, both local and international. Conceived, coordinated and frequently built by Sputnik Architecture, the Warming Huts project is episodic and transformative, linking parts of a city divided by waterways, creating spaces of encounter and exchange, and reconnecting citizens with healthy lifestyles and the history of place. It is a celebration of winter that engages Winnipeg’s design community and draws the eyes of the world to a little city punching above its weight in the creative fields". Read More.

The jury for the 2022 RAIC International Prize: Susan Ruptash, FRAIC, Architect, OAA, Principal Emerita, Alfred Waugh Architect AIBC, NWTAA, OAA, MRAIC, LEED AP, Owner | Principal, FORMLINE ARCHITECTURE, Amale Andraos, Hon. FRAIC, Co-founder of WORKac, Diarmuid Nash, BES, M.Arch., OAA(PP), AIBC, AAA, FRAIC(PP), HON AIA, HON FCARM, Partner, MORIYAMA & TESHIMA ARCHITECTS, Farida Abu-Bakare OAA, MRAIC, Project Director, Accra, Adjaye Associates, Peter Busby, C.M., FRAIC, LEED® Fellow, Global Design Principal, Perkins&Will, Sasa Radulovic, NSAA OAA MAA SAA AAA AIBC FRAIC B.E.D. M.Arch LEED a.p., Co-founding Partner, 5468796 Architecture, Talbot Sweetapple, BA, BEDS, M.Arch, FRAIC, MAIA, NSAA, AAPEI, ALBNL, AANB, NH, VT, Partner, MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, WH Vivian Lee, OAA, AIA, Director, Master of Architecture Program, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design University of Toronto, David Covo, FRAIC, Associate Professor, Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture at McGill University, is the Professional Advisor to the jury.

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