Royal Conservatory revamp earns architecture award

Marianne McKenna of KPMB Architects has received a 2005 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence for the Royal Conservatory of Music's TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning.

It is the second time the design for the Royal Conservatory project has won this award, given by Canadian Architect magazine. The first time was in 1991 for the master plan for the centre.

The TELUS Centre, which will add 190,000 square feet of new academic and performance space to the historic conservatory, is now under construction.

The Canadian Architect Award of Excellence has been awarded since 1968 to projects at the design stage. The jury considers site, geographical and social context, structure, materials and environmental features in determining a winner.

The jury admired the way McKenna's design for the building related to the rest of the University of Toronto campus and to the original Royal Conservatory building of 1881.

"The Telus Centre is compelling for its tectonic rigour and careful respect for existing site elements," juror Robert Ouellette commented. "This is an exceptional solution to a difficult historical context."

Construction began in June on the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning, which will add a 1,140-seat concert hall, technologically sophisticated performance venues and new academic facilities to theconservatory.

The building, designed by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects, is scheduled for completion in 2007.

Montreal-born McKenna was responsible for the overall design vision and led a design team that involved engineers and heritage restoration specialists. A partner at the architecture firm, she was educated at Swarthmore College and Yale University and has been involved in several award-winning projects.

Toronto-based KPMB Architects is now at work on five cultural renaissance projects in Toronto, including projects at the Gardiner Museum, the National Ballet School and the Young Centre for Performing Arts. It also redesigned the recently reopened Art Gallery of Hamilton.