Shim-Sutcliffe Architects — the firm of Associate Professor Brigitte Shim and her partner Howard Sutcliffe — has received a 2014 Living City Award from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) for its design of The Sisters of St. Joseph Residence at 2 O’Connor Drive in Toronto.

The Living City Awards are presented to organizations and individuals who help make the Toronto region “a cleaner, greener, and healthier place to live,” a place where “human settlement can flourish forever as part of nature’s beauty and diversity.”

From the TRCA’s website:

The Sisters of St. Joseph Residence is an outstanding project overlooking the Don River ravine in Toronto demonstrating that landscape stewardship and sophisticated green technologies can be a design anchor for mainstream redevelopment in a meaningful manner. The assisted living facility, chapel and hospital project embodies the deep environmental commitment of the Sisters with the inclusion of site naturalization and ecological gardens, heritage building rehabilitation, geothermal heating, and water and energy conservation components.  A stunning, and thoughtful project of integrated architecture and landscape design, which highlights the Sisters' vision for sustainability, openness to nature and blending modern, historic and sacred spaces.

The Living City Awards were presented at a dinner on November 7.

This is not the first award that Shim-Sutcliffe Architects have received for the Sisters of St. Joseph residence. This past summer they also received top honours at the 2014 World Architecture News Healthcare Awards, where they were presented with the award for “Best Hospital Upgrade." In 2013, Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe were named Members of the Order of Canada “for their contributions as architects designing sophisticated structures that represent the best in Canadian design to the world.”

For more information on The Living City award, visit the TRCA’s website.