Wood Design & Building Award winners announced

The 2026 Wood Design & Building Awards took centre stage this to celebrate excellence in wood architecture and design at the opening of the Calgary Wood Solutions Conference.

The Canadian Wood Council’s annual awards program, now in its 42nd year, recognizes the outstanding work of architectural professionals from Canada and around the world. This year’s event showcased 27 projects: 14 selected by the Wood Design & Building Awards jury, four receiving special sponsored awards, and nine receiving WoodWorks regional wood design awards. The winning projects demonstrate the versatility of wood across building types and scales, and the ingenuity of the teams behind them.

“Congratulations to this year’s award recipients, whose work gives us much to admire and even more to look forward to,” said Derek Nighbor, president and CEO of the Canadian Wood Council. “Through their creativity, skill, and ambition, these teams are showing how thoughtful wood design can create places that are more inspiring, more enduring and better suited to the needs of people and communities. Their achievements move the conversation forward and point to exciting possibilities for the future of design and construction.”

Technology is changing how buildings are conceived, engineered and constructed, and this year’s winning projects demonstrate how wood architecture is advancing in tandem. Innovations in wood products, engineering, and prefabrication are enabling increasingly sophisticated structural and architectural solutions, while retaining the warmth, character, and human qualities that set wood apart. From carefully resolved smaller projects to ambitious developments with a significant urban presence, the 2026 recipients demonstrate that innovation in wood design is taking place at every scale.

2026 Award Winning Projects

Honor

• Muscowpetung Powwow Arbour (Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation, Treaty 4, Saskatchewan) | Oxbow Architecture & Richard Kroeker Design
• Limberlost Place (Toronto, Ontario) | Moriyama Teshima Architects with Acton Ostry Architects
• Knight Building (Big Sky, Montana) | Integrated Design Cubed (IDCUBED); NKBAK; Peter Rose + Partners
• Vonnegut Cabins (Thoreau, New Mexico) | ColoradoBuildingWorkshop at the University of Colorado Denver
• X24 (Rectorat de l’Académie de Créteil) (Paris, France) | DREAM and KOZ (now AA Group) in joint venture

Merit

• Chief Leonard George Building (Vancouver, British Columbia) | GBL Architects Inc.
• House for Rejuvenation (Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea) | JK-AR
• Koffler Scientific Reserve (King City, Ontario) | Montgomery Sisam Architects
• FortWhyte Alive Buffalo Crossing Paul Albrechtsen Visitor Centre (Winnipeg, Manitoba) | Stantec Architecture Ltd.
• PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity (Venice, Italy) | Marlon Blackwell Architects with TEN x TEN Studio, D.I.R.T. Studio, and Stephen Burks Man Made
• Kìwekì Point (Ottawa, Ontario) | Patkau Architects Inc.

Citation

• The Seed (Shanghai, China) | Challenge Design & Jaz Build
• Tribeca Triplex (New York, New York) | Julian von der Schulenburg LLC

Industry Leadership

• Kalesnikoff Modular Facility (Castlegar, British Columbia) | Stanley Office of Architecture (SOA)

Sustainable Forestry Initiative Sponsored Award

• University of Southern Maine Crewe Center for the Arts (Portland, Maine) | Perkins Eastman Architects

Western Red Cedar Sponsored Awards

• A Legacy in Wood: Renewing a Home for Generations (Canmore, Alberta)| HSS Design Build – Designer
• Tla’amin Ems Aye – Our House Cultural Facility (Qathet (Powell River), British Columbia) | Mackin Architects Ltd.

Wood Preservation Canada Sponsored Award

• Muscowpetung Powwow Arbour (Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation, Treaty 4, Saskatchewan) | Oxbow Architecture & Richard Kroeker Design

WoodWorks BC Wood Design Awards

• Chief Leonard George Building (Vancouver, British Columbia) | GBL Architects Inc.
• Fulmer Family Centre for Childhood Studies (North Vancouver, British Columbia) | Public Architecture + Design
• The Hive (Vancouver, British Columbia) | DIALOG

WoodWorks Alberta, Prairie Wood Design Awards

• 212 Saskatchewan Crescent East (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) | Oxbow Architecture
• FortWhyte Alive Buffalo Crossing Paul Albrechtsen Visitor Centre (Winnipeg, Manitoba) | Stantec Architecture Ltd.
• Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre (Edmonton, Alberta) | Designed in joint venture by hcma architecture + design and Dub Architects in collaboration with FaulknerBrowns

WoodWorks Ontario Wood Design Awards

• Limberlost Place (Toronto, Ontario) | Moriyama Teshima Architects with Acton Ostry Architects
• Brightwood – 150 Wissler (Waterloo, Ontario) | mcCallumSather
• Making Home at 97 Victoria Street North (Kitchener, Ontario) | BNKC Architects Inc.

The 2026 Wood Design & Building Awards were adjudicated by a distinguished panel comprised of Steven Paynter, Regional Growth Director and Principal, Gensler; Susan Jones, Founding Principal, atelierjones; and Sasa Radulovic, Partner, 5468796 Architecture. Projects were considered for creativity, design excellence, and the innovative and appropriate use of wood in meeting project objectives.

“The jury brought an extraordinary depth of experience to this year’s program, but just as importantly, they brought real care and thoughtfulness to the process,” said Ioana Lazea, Senior Manager for the program at the Canadian Wood Council. “We had 149 submissions this year and selecting from such a strong field called for rigorous discussion and some difficult decisions. We are deeply grateful to Steven, Susan and Sasa for the time, expertise, and perspective they contributed. The projects recognized this year reflect both the high standard they brought to the jury room and the remarkable work taking place across the profession.”

Honor Award winner Muscowpetung Powwow Arbour. (Lindsay Reid courtesy Wood Design & Building Awards)