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The awards, for work completed in the last five years, recognize the contributions of architects, designers, students and others who are trying to create a more beautiful, livable Toronto, says the city.Ìý

Winners were announced at a ceremony Wednesday night and included a new white sand urban beach and a housing project to keep people out of the emergency room.

Christine Leu, an artist, educator and architect, andÌýUte Maya-Giambattista, aÌýprincipal with O2 planning and design firm,Ìýwere part ofÌýthis year’s five-member jury.

The environmental footprint and community input on the projects were important to the panel, said Leu.

“This is not the architectural award of a building in a vacuum,” addedÌýMaya-Giambattista.

“Third spaces,” gathering spots that are neither home nor work, are what “make or breaks the city,” she said.Ìý

People often talk about the future, that the city could be this or that. But these awards celebrate the present, added Leu.

“We can say this is actually º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøright now. There’s this great place,” sheÌýsaid.

Here are a few of the winners, a full list is available on the

Ulster House,Ìý84 Ulster St., near Bathurst and Harbord streets

This Scandinavian-lookingÌýdowntown º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøfive-plexÌýwas built by two architects as a model alternative between a conventional single-family home and a tall condo tower.

Leu said it’s “fascinating” the different ways that “designers, developersÌýand the city are trying to tackle the housing crisis.”

The jury praised the home’s sustainable materials in its report, noting that “the house sits respectfully within the existing fabric of the street even with its additional height.”

“As a pioneer in infill housing, Ulster House represents new possibilities in the densification of lowrise neighbourhoods, challenging the perception that single-family homes should be the prevalent housing model in the Yellowbelt,” the report added.Ìý

Dunn House — Social Medicine Housing, 90 Dunn Ave., near Springhurst Avenue and Dufferin Street

Another example of an innovative way of tacking the housing crisis isÌýDunn House,Ìýa Parkdale housing project with 51 units that has health and social services available for the people who live there.

The idea is to help homeless Torontonians who often end up in the city’s emergency rooms.Ìý

“This project is ambitious on every front, including the use of prefabrication towards achieving a high-performing, all-electric building,” the judges noted.

The Dance,Ìý20 Isabella St. (George Hislop Park); and Yonge Street Linear Parks, 20 and 13 Isabella Street

One of the projects that stood out forÌýLeu was “The Dance,” a “linear urban park” just east of Yonge Street downtown, that won a special jury award for its integrated approach of public art and landscape.

The jury was impressed by its “complete spatial experience,” from the ground to the overhead elements, they noted in their report, and coded references to theÌý2SLGBTQ+ community.

There are “tons of people in condos” in the area,ÌýLeu said. “And you just need a really amazing place to get away from your Zoom screen. It doesn’t have to be this huge urban gesture. It can just be a wonderful moment.”

Red Embers at º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøCity Hall Lobby, Allan Gardens (temporary installation), Ashbridges Bay (temporary installation)

This stark memorial toÌýMissing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Trans, and Two-Spirited Indigenous Peoples was created by Indigenous designers, working with the Native Women’s Resource Centre and an elder.Ìý

It’s designed so that members of the public pass under 20-foot charred cedar gates with dramatic red banners.

The experience is meant to create moments of “awareness, connection and healing for the broader community,” the jury noted in its report.Ìý

Leslie Lookout Park, 12 A Leslie St.,Ìýon the Martin Goodman Trail at the entrance to Tommy Thompson Park