2025 – Buffalo Crossing, Fort Whyte Alive, Winnipeg, Manitoba

A 18,000-square-foot multipurpose building on a triangular plan with rounded corners designed to be both low energy consumption and climate change resilient. Large sliding perforated metal brise-soleil are designed to control solar gain in the building while allowing for maximum natural light.

Manitoba’s first commercial building to achieve Passive House Certification. It is also design certified under the CAGBC Zero Carbon Building standard. Its walls provide more than 30 centimetres of insulation, and the building uses fossil-free geothermal heating and cooling.

The airy interior is finished entirely in wood with black painted metal trim and fixtures – the same materials palette as the exterior. The rounded corners have balconies to take advantage of the view over Muir Lake. From a distance the upper floor seems a little top heavy over the recessed main floor, due to the detailing in the metal cladding being visually lost over the distance.