Rising stars and established names across Canada comprise the RAIC Annual Award recipients for 2024

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada has announced its slate of Annual Award winners for 2024. Joining the New Zealand-based Māori design professional network Ngā Aho as the International Prize laureates and Canadian Indigenous rights activist Justice Murray Sinclair as the RAIC Gold Medallist were award recipients for outstanding architectural practice, emerging practice, advocacy, research and innovation, as well as architectural journalism and media.

Noting the selection of Toronto-based Dubbeldam Architecture + Design as the 2024 Architectural Practice Award winner, the RAIC jury commented: "Dubbeldam Architecture + Design is overdue for significant recognition as they have set an example for the breadth, critical sensibility, and sense of responsibility they bring to architectural practice and its social contexts. Their established office is known across Canada for their zeal and sincere belief in architecture as a tool for change."

Joining them was Halifax-based Peter Braithwaite Studio, the winner of this year's Emerging Architectural Practice Award. The jury commended their tact in developing "guiding principles to address the challenges of our time with a focus on preserving biodiversity and minimizing the destruction of ecosystems," before adding, "Their work is impressive and beautifully executed, embodying the quality needed for the future of architecture in Canada."

This year's Advocate for Architecture Award went to the volunteer organization Building Equality in Architecture Toronto (or BEAT), which was formed in 2015 to advance equity causes for women in the architecture field. Their work was commended as being a new and proactive "force in Canadian architectural discourse." 

The jury added: "BEAT has established itself as a significant voice supporting equity in the architecture profession. As a group, they highlight the structural inequalities that continue to disadvantage women, inspire us to reflect and to action for change. Their discussions and perspectives connect and center human dimensions for a better way forward and their enthusiastic encouragement and mentorship of young female architects as they navigate a demanding profession is vital."

Rounding out the 2024 cohort was Vancouver's Patkau Architects Design Lab, the winner of the Research & Innovation in Architecture Award, and writer Jim Taggart, who won the Architectural Journalism and Media Award for his outstanding contributions via his position at Sustainable Architecture and Building Magazine (SABMag) and body of published work that has seen him author more than twenty books since his career began. Another Architectural Journalism and Media Award went to the Site Magazine's publication, The Edit.

The jury for this year's awards program included Renée Daoust, D’Arcy Jones, Shane Laptiste, Susanne Marshall, and Kate Thompson.