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Saucier + Perrotte Architectes wins RAIC 2018 Gold Medal

Canada Architecture News - Feb 22, 2018 - 05:24   20596 views

Saucier + Perrotte Architectes wins RAIC 2018 Gold Medal

Montreal-based firm Saucier + Perrotte Architectes (S+P) has been announced as the winner of the 2018 RAIC Gold Medal, which is the highest honour the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) can bestow. The prize recognises individuals who have made a significant and lasting contribution to Canadian architecture.

The international judging panel praised the firm for "consistently producing refined, elegant and modern buildings - not for individuals but many for the public".

“They have built and maintained a high quality of work for decades,” said the five-member selection jury. “They are one of the few firms that are recognized both nationally and internationally. The work is always innovative and interesting. It’s timeless, consistently elegant, beautifully detailed. They integrate nature beautifully.”

Saucier + Perrotte Architectes wins RAIC 2018 Gold Medal

Gilles Saucier, FIRAC, and André Perrotte, FIRAC. Image © Justine Latour

Saucier + Perrotte Architectes, founded by Gilles Saucier, FIRAC, and André Perrotte, FIRAC, in 1988 in Montreal, Canada. The firm represented Canada at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2004 and has received more than 100 awards, including eight Governor General’s Medals in Architecture and the Government of Quebec’s Prix Ernest Cormier for lifetime achievement. Their work has been published widely.

In 2002, the CCA began archiving architectural drawings and models by Saucier + Perrotte, and in 2007, the CCA selected the firm to design its exhibition on the Oil Crisis of the 1970s, called “1973: Sorry, Out of Gas.”

“They are ambassadors for Canadian architecture,” said the jury. "They don’t compromise. Their work inspires and delights. Their projects are functional, sculptural and beautiful in the landscape. They are spaces that one enjoys being in.”

Saucier + Perrotte Architectes wins RAIC 2018 Gold Medal

First Nation Garden Pavilion at the Botanical Garden in Montreal. Image © Marc Cramer 

Saucier + Perrotte have designed theatres (Usine C and Cinémathèque Québécoise in Montreal); commercial spaces, (the Michel Brisson boutiques and Scandinave Les Bains Vieux Montreal); garden pavilions (First Nations Pavilion at the Botanical Garden in Montreal), and the Canadian embassy in Abu Dhabi.

The firm’s university projects include the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo and the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (with Hughes Condon Marler Architects) in Vancouver. 

They have also completed sports facilities such as the new Stade de Soccer de Montréal (with HCMA Architecture + Design), as well as private residences, exhibitions and art centres. Ongoing major projects include River City, a 1,000-unit LEED Gold master plan in Toronto.

Saucier + Perrotte Architectes wins RAIC 2018 Gold Medal

Complexe Sportif Saint- Laurent, Montréal, Québec. Image © Olivier Blouin Photographer

Mr. Saucier is the firm’s design partner while Mr. Perrotte is the project architect in charge of coordinating the design and construction process. Both are graduates of the Laval University school of architecture in Quebec City, and have lectured and taught across Canada and abroad.

One of their nominators, Martin Bressani, MRAIC, director of the school of architecture at McGill University, noted that Saucier + Perrotte “marked a watershed in Canadian architecture, initiating a second modernist wave, one that risked new experimentation, and displayed a much greater sensibility to atmosphere.

Saucier + Perrotte Architectes wins RAIC 2018 Gold Medal

Anne-Marie Edward Science Building at John Abbott College. Image © Marc Cramer 

“From the start, theirs was a public architecture, at the service of culture and a collective identity,” wrote Bressani.  

“It is with great honour that we accept this award recognizing 30 years of passionate and dedicated work,” they said in a joint statement. “We are grateful for the numerous fruitful collaborations that have helped us shape and realize our vision. We proudly receive this medal as a reward for our unyielding commitment to architectural excellence.”

The jury members was composed of Peter Busby, FRAIC, partner, Perkins + Will, Vancouver, BC, Andrew Batay-Csorba, MRAIC, partner, Batay-Csorba Architects, Toronto, ON, Johanna Hurme, FRAIC, partner, 5468796 architecture Winnipeg, MB, Renée Mailhot, MIRAC, founder, la SHED architecture, Montreal, QC, Diogo Burnay, director, Dalhousie University School of Architecture, Halifax, NS.

Saucier + Perrotte Architectes wins RAIC 2018 Gold Medal

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. Image © Marc Cramer

Previous Gold Medalists include Peter Busby, FRAIC,His Highness the Aga Khan, Bing Thom, FRAIC, George Baird, FRAIC, John and Patricia Patkau, FRAIC, Dan Hanganu, FIRAC, Bruce Kuwabara, FRAIC, Arthur Erickson, FRAIC, Phyllis Lambert, Moshe Safdie, FRAIC, Raymond Moriyama, FRAIC, and others.

The winners will receive their Gold Medal at the RAIC/AANB Festival of Architecture, taking place in Saint John from May 30 to June 2, 2018.

Top image: UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences / CDRD in Vancouver, British Colombia. Image © Marc Cramer

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