Photo Credit (Above): Ema Peter Photography
Location: Burnaby, British Columbia
Architecture Practice: Hariri Pontarini Architects (Design Architect) and Iredale Architecture (Architect of Record)
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 Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum introduces a bold new vision for fostering cultural engagement. Simon Fraser University gives its new gallery pride of place as a campus gateway that extends a welcoming embrace to the adjacent mixed-use community. Nature anchors the Gibson within a forested, mountaintop setting and becomes an active participant in the museum’s identity where daylight and views extend deep inside.
This single-storey structure is conceived as a passageway that invites end-to-end movement with flexible gallery and lounge spaces providing an inclusive, resilient model for how cultural facilities can serve students, artists, and the public.
Photo Credit: Ema Peter Photography
Photo Credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects
Photo Credit: Ema Peter Photography
This blOAAg post is part of a series exploring the OAA’s 20 Design Excellence Finalists for 2026, as selected by our jury.