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BARRIE WASTER WATER INNOVATION CENTRE (WWIC) Winner of the Canadian Architect Award of Excellence

WWIC is an all-electric facility powered by a 350.8 kW-DC rooftop solar photovoltaic array sized to offset the building’s projected annual electricity consumption. High-performance envelope design, passive daylighting, heat recovery, and advanced building controls support the goal of achieving operational net-zero energy and net-zero emissions. Narrow floor plates and clerestory glazing bring natural light deep into the interior, and durable, low-maintenance materials contribute to healthy, long-lasting workspaces.

Together, these strategies reinforce WWIC as a forward-looking civic building, creating a facility that is truly sustainable both technically and socially, in alignment with the City of Barrie’s corporate climate action plan.

BARRIE WASTE WATER INNOVATION CENTRE (WWIC) Winner of the 2025 Canadian Architects Award of Excellence

WWIC transforms the archetypal “big box” shed into a carefully sculpted civic form. Along Bradford Street, the corners of the volume are lifted to acknowledge the urban significance of the site. Functionally, these lifted corners bring natural light deeper into the floor plate and create a sense of openness for users and a beacon back to the public realm.

Emerging from the ground like an infrastructural landscape element, the building’s materiality and scale express the industrial sublime. Fluted Canadian-made weathering steel cladding panels are animated by shifting daylight, revealing a continuous play of light and shadow. These flutes also help to regulate daylight, reducing glare and solar heat gain to support comfortable working environments for staff.

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This deliberate restraint results in a space that is both sanctuary and study. The darkness provides a sense of solitude and quiet, but it also heightens awareness of the landscape beyond. Openings to the exterior frame glimpses of the surrounding forest and sky, turning the interior into a viewing chamber for the landscape and invites stillness, reflection, and focus.

Rather than relying on colour or contrast, the design achieves its richness through the interplay of light, surface, and proportion. The process demanded precision and experimentation at every stage, and the final result is a reflection of that shared dedication and curiosity.

We’re Hiring! gh3* is looking for an Intermediate / Senior Landscape Architect to join our Toronto studio.

If you’re passionate about design excellence, public realm projects, and working in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment, we want to hear from you.

For full details and how to apply, click the link in our bio or visit https://www.gh3.ca/job-positions