The Warming Huts, Montreal's soccer stadium, and a natural swimming pool shortlisted for RAIC 2022 International Prize

As part of the organization's ongoing mission to recognize excellence and innovation in the ever-important area of socially transformative architecture, the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada has announced the shortlist for the 2022 edition of its biannual International Prize.

Now in its fourth iteration, the award has garnered a reputation for selecting designs based on their quality and civic value by a panel that included Perkins&Will's Peter Busby and Farida Abu-Bakare of Adjaye Associates this year. The jury produced three finalists that each reflect the values the Institute sees as represented by the award's original namesake Raymond Moriyama. 

“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 shortlist is a testament to the quality of Canadian architecture and architectural practice today,” Jury Chair Susan Ruptash said in a statement.

All three finalists will receive a $5,000 cash prize along with the chance to win the main prize. Scroll down to see a full list of images.

Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool, Edmonton, Alberta by gh3* (opened in 2019)

Project description: "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."

Stade de Soccer de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec by Saucier+Perrotte / HCMA Architects in joint venture (opened in 2015)

Project description: "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, made of an innovative hybrid wood structure composed of both cross laminated timber and glulam elements, helps to showcase the Stadium as a distinctive and unified presence in the community."

The Warming Huts, Winnipeg, Manitoba by Sputnik Architecture Inc. and numerous collaborators (organized since 2010)

Project description: "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."