Governor General's Medal for PI

 

Karen Kawawada / the Record  May 4, 2006

For the third time since it opened less than two years ago, Waterloo's Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics has received a major award in architecture.

The latest award is the most prestigious yet -- the institute is one of 12 buildings across the country being honoured with a Governor General's Medal in Architecture.

Designed by the Montreal-based architectural firm of Saucier and Perrotte, the building won awards from both the Ontario and Quebec Association of Architects last year.  "It's tremendous to be constantly recognized for the innovative space that's been created here," said John Matlock, the institute's director of communications.

The distinctive building of jutting glass blocks and matte black is "the perfect melding of three kinds of space," said Matlock.  "You have very private contemplative spaces in which to work alone, there's also informal interactive areas in which you can just spontaneously mix with people of many different scientific backgrounds, and thirdly . . . formal spaces of lecture rooms and theatres."

Although the $25-million facility contains state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment, it's tied together inside and out by the most basic of academic tools -- the blackboard. There are blackboards in all the offices and many of the common spaces.  "I know it seems rather old-fashioned . . . but the blackboard is pretty much the common tool of choice for physicists worldwide," said Matlock.

The window-scattered black wall facing Father David Bauer Drive is "kind of the concept of a big blackboard with an equation scattered across it," Matlock said.  The judges also noted the visual link between the building and the science.  "The exterior facades' almost hyper-real resolution in a kind of scientific expression announces to its surroundings the exciting intellectual endeavours happening on the inside," wrote Amale Andraos, a member of the jury.

The facility boasts many amenities for researchers, including fireplaces and pool tables, but the building was also designed as a public space, with a theatre acoustically optimized for string music and enough conference space to host two full-scale events at once, said Matlock.

Other Governor General's award winners include the  Montreal studios of Cirque du Soleil, Erindale Hall at the University of Toronto's Mississauga campus,  and the Schulich School of Business at York University.  The majority are modest civic projects, overwhelmingly in Quebec.  The awards will be presented in Montreal in September ‘06.

kkawawada@therecord.com