The design for the renovated Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at U of T has just won a Progressive Architecture Award. See here for some details and a slideshow.

I haven’t been able to take too close a look at this proposal – a competition-winner by the (very sharp) Office dA of Boston with Adamson Associates. It certainly does all the right things urbanistically and in terms of sustainability: a more welcoming entrance, high-performance double skin cladding, green roof, plenty of flexible public space.

But I can’t help but wonder whether all this – especially the addition of the skin around the existing 1909 building – is really necessary. The structure now has a nice, loft-like quality that seems to lend itself well to student work and creativity. The few strategic interventions, most notably the beautiful 1998 library by Kohn Shnier, are aging very well. I hope the new reno, when it happens, has the same degree of grace.