Photo Credit (Above): Doublespace Photography

Location: King City, Ontario

Architecture Practice: Montgomery Sisam Architects Inc.

Chosen by a jury of respected design experts, the 20 projects comprising the OAA’s 2026 Design Excellence Finalists represent a diverse range of building types, including sustainably designed community centres, innovative housing solutions, revitalized academic and cultural facilities, and transformative public spaces. These finalists serve as the shortlist for the OAA’s 10 Design Excellence Winners, which will be announced next month and honoured at the OAA Conference in the Waterloo Region in May. The biennial OAA Design Excellence Awards program offers Ontario practices the opportunity to display the transformative influence of architecture, promoting broader public recognition and appreciation for the field. The following media statement has been supplied by the submitting project team:

The Koffler Scientific Reserve’s Dining and Operations Centre provides housing, teaching, and dining facilities to support this nationally recognized institute for ecology and biodiversity. Situated in the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Centre integrates passive design strategies to achieve net-zero energy and net-zero carbon performance.

The mass timber building reinterprets a traditional barn form, featuring sharply sloped roofs and blackened wood cladding. Expansive spaces in exposed timber and large perimeter windows blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, reinforcing researchers’ engagement with the land. The project is designed to naturally foster connection and community, strengthening the social dimension of fieldwork.

Photo Credit: Doublespace Photography

Photo Credit: Doublespace Photography

Photo Credit: Montgomery Sisam Architects

This blOAAg post is part of a series exploring the OAA’s 20 Design Excellence Finalists for 2026, as selected by our jury.