We’re thrilled to share that RDHA’s Day Hall Renewal at the University of Guelph has won a 2025 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence!
The Day Hall renewal reimagines a historic campus building with a contemporary, transparent addition that expands its footprint and supports the growing Master of Engineering program. The project blends restored heritage elements with bold new forms, creating accessible entrances, a vibrant atrium, and a mix of classrooms, labs, studios, and gathering spaces. Targeting CaGBC Zero Carbon Building Standards, the design integrates mass timber, solar technologies, green roofs, and connection to the University’s decarbonized energy system, while revitalizing Winegard Walk and transforming a central campus landmark.
“This highly performative, multi-faceted campus intervention at the University of Guelph is exemplary in its response to its context and heritage-listed ‘host’, Day Hall. The scheme includes landscape, new gathering and teaching spaces, labs and numerous carbon-reducing measures across the project. However, its architectural triumph is the diaphanous, translucent glass veils of the Hall’s new extensions—whose proportion and atmosphere will quietly enhance their context.” – Alison Brooks, Juror, Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence