cityscape The Best (and Worst) of Toronto Architecture

Condos near-universally panned at the 2014 Pug Awards.

SHOW CAPTION  ✉ Share on:  321210 From this angle, the Ripley's aquarium looks like drunken origami. rippers https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/rippers-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/rippers.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/rippers.jpg 1000 669 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/rippers/ rippers 0 0 321216 The wavy lines running up the side of Clear Spirit evoke the billowing smokestacks of the old Distillery District. (Honourable mention, residential.) smoke https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/smoke-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/smoke.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/smoke.jpg 1000 1640 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/smoke/ smoke 0 0 321208 Bridge and Connect Condos reminds us that pointy and dull are not mutually exclusive. bridgeconnect https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/bridgeconnect-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/bridgeconnect.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/bridgeconnect.jpg 1000 1582 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/bridgeconnect/ bridgeconnect 0 0 321218 Its proportions may not be terribly pleasing, but undulating balconies, inspired by the lake, give Market Wharf some visual interest. (Honourable mention, residential.) wharf https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/wharf-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/wharf.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/wharf.jpg 1000 1335 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/wharf/ wharf 0 0 321211 St. Ambrose Catholic School was pipped at the post in the race to the architectural bottom, finishing second last in the commercial-institutional category in what was surely a photo finish. school1 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/school1-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/school1.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/school1.jpg 1000 650 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/school1/ school1 0 0 321207 The winner in the residential category, River Street proves we <em>can</em> have nice things. bridge https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/bridge-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/bridge.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/bridge.jpg 1000 667 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/bridge/ bridge 0 0 321214 Boring condo is boring. shep https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/shep-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/shep.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/shep.jpg 1000 798 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/shep/ shep 0 0

321215 The Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning is sleek without being sterile, and offers a subtle splash of colour to the edges of the hospital district. (Honourable mention, commercial-institutional.) sickkids https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/sickkids-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/sickkids.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/sickkids.jpg 1000 1500 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/sickkids/ sickkids 0 0 321212 St. Nicholas Catholic School was the worst-rated commercial-institutional building, among those who were able to recall it. school2 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/school2-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/school2.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/school2.jpg 1000 667 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/school2/ school2 0 0 321209 The winner in the commercial-institutional category, Bridgepoint Hospital interacts with its surrounding green space without being obtrusive. hospital https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/hospital-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/hospital.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/hospital.jpg 1000 750 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/hospital/ hospital 0 0 321206 Bravo Boutique finished a richly deserved dead last in the residential category. boutique https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/boutique-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/boutique.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/boutique.jpg 1000 1264 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/boutique/ boutique 0 0 321217 With the Goldring Student Centre at Victoria College, we further explore our love of rectangles. (Honourable mention, commercial-institutional.) vic https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/vic-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/vic.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/vic.jpg 1000 750 https://torontoist.com/2014/06/the-best-and-worst-of-toronto-architecture/slide/vic/ vic 0 0



The good, the not-bad, and the pugly were all on display Wednesday night at the 10th annual Pug Awards, which celebrate the best—and mildly reprove the worst—in Toronto architecture.

Phase one of River City, a condo development in the West Don Lands, took home the People’s Choice Award for the best residential building completed last year. A film noir in condo form, it’s stylish and even a little bit sexy with its black aluminum cladding and windows set elegantly askew.

Of the 32 residential buildings nominated, just seven received positive scores from the voting public—reflecting a distaste for the often monotonous condo towers constantly springing up across the city.

Commercial and institutional buildings fared better: of 11 nominees, only three were given negative ratings. The people’s choice was the new Bridgepoint Hospital, in Riverdale. Key to the facility’s design are its narrow, asymmetrically placed box windows. They complement their rigidly aligned counterparts on the adjacent former Don Jail, newly adapted as the administrative wing of Bridgepoint—a project for which the hospital collected a second Pug Award, for adaptive reuse and heritage restoration.

This year’s ceremony marks the end of the people’s choice Pug Awards, and two special categories—recognizing the best residential and the best commercial buildings of the past 10 years—were instituted for the occasion. Betraying a fondness for cuboids of various sizes, the people chose 500 Wellington and the Gardiner Museum, respectively.

As for the very worst of 2013, the Pugs recognized the three least-admired buildings in the residential and commercial-institutional categories—those that received dishonourable mentions include The Avanti, a condo that was not so much built as rubber-stamped onto Sheppard Avenue West; Bridge and Connect condos, a jagged, Dr. Caligari-esque set piece writ boring; and the Ripley’s aquarium, which looks like a whitewashed F-117 filled with fish.

Peruse the gallery and check out all of the winners, the honourable mentions, and of course, the losers.