Recognizing creativity: The Habitat Design Awards!

The winners of the 2021 Habitat Design
Awards competition!

Montréal, November 18, 2021 – The winners of the 2021 Habitat Design Awards were announced during a ceremony presided over by world renowned industrial designer Michel Dallaire. Many of Greater Montreal’s top housing sector firms were in attendance to mark the event, which recognizes the talent, creativity and outstanding ingenuity of the creatives who invigorate the residential construction industry.

“There is immense value in advocating for all the design professions – architecture, landscaping, interior design and graphic design – pooling together with a view toward creating better living spaces. The Habitat Design Awards speak to this in no uncertain terms. These awards constitute an important and timely initiative, and aptly demonstrate the usefulness of interprofessional collaboration,” notes industrial designer Michel Dallaire, O.C., O.Q, CALQ.

A dozen awards were presented this year honouring excellence in new residential unit design in the Montreal metropolitan area. Entries were evaluated based on how well they integrate quality interior design within the scope of a multidisciplinary approach, a specific competitive edge in terms of concept, functionality and aesthetics, and their marketing to homebuyers increasingly seeking a living environment today’s designers call “wall-to-wall wellbeing.”

The Rinox Award for Best Emerging Landscape Architect
In collaboration with the Association des architectes paysagistes du Québec (AAPQ), this inaugural edition of the Rinox Award for Best Emerging Landscape Architect provided an opportunity to showcase the undeniable talent of young creatives with a university education in the field and less than five years experience on the job. The jury selected Francis Laforest, a Université de Montréal student interning with the firm L’Atelier Urbain. Mr. Laforest received a trophy, as well as a $1,000 prize from Rinox.

New: The Habitat Design Grand Prize – Creative Agency of the Year
By awarding the very first edition of this highly coveted prize to Six communications, the jury set out to underline the feats of this Montreal agency, especially with regard to the creative model they developed for keeping sales offices operational in response to the rules and restrictions prescribed by public health authorities during the pandemic.

The agency also won a Summit International Award in the Customer Website category for their work on the site of the Rubis par Marquise condominiums for rent project. The Summit Awards are recognized worldwide.

The Habitat Design Grand Prize– People’s Choice Award – Furnished Model Units and People’s Choice Award – Sales Offices
Over and above the prizes awarded by the jury, the Habitat Design Grand Prize People’s Choice awards in the Furnished Model Unit and Sales Office categories feature among the most coveted distinctions. This year, about a dozen finalists vied for the award in each of the categories. The public voted for the shortlisted entries online on a dedicated website powered by DuProprio. All entries were submitted for the draw of a $2,500 prize offered by GE Appliances.

The Habitat Design Award– Sales Office Category and Furnished Model Unit Category – Jury’s Choice
Visiting buyers love a broad palette of ideas. For builders, this means the opportunity to put together magnificent elegantly-decorated model units and beautifully attractive sales offices. Buyers can then visualize a host of options and start laying the foundation for their future new dream home. This is the premise that originally gave rise to the Habitat Design Awards, eventually introduced jointly with the Association des designers d’intérieur du Québec (APDIQ) and FORMES magazine.

Highly-credentialed juries
For awards pertaining to Furnished Model Units, the jury consisted of interior designers who are members of the APDIQ, i.e. Michèle Lalumière, Jean de Lessard, Lucie Roy and Mélodie Violet.

For awards pertaining to Sales Offices, the multidisciplinary jury consisted of architect André Bourassa, interior designer Shawn Bedford, reputed industrial designer Michel Dallaire, interior designer Marco Brissette, industrial designer Mario Gagnon and landscape architect Tracey Hesse.

The Branding Award jury was made up of the following graphic designers: Olivier Bruel, Mario Mercier and Lorena Garcia Giron.

As for the awards in the Landscape Architecture category, the jurors were Nadège Tchuente, Karine Durocher, Tracey Hesse and Serge Galant, all widely reputed professionals in the field.

“The aim of the Habitat Design Awards is to foster multidisciplinary approaches by teaming up architecture and design professionals with residential construction stakeholders right at the beginning of a project, so the end result can benefit from their collective input and resources,”commented Claude Paquin, editor of the FORMES magazine.

The sponsors and partners of the 2021 Habitat Design Awards are the Association professionnelle des designers d’intérieur du Québec (APDIQ), Association des architectes paysagistes du Québec (AAPQ), Société des designers graphiques du Québec, DuProprio, GE Appliances, Rinox, and FORMES magazine.

General Information: 514 255-4066

2021 Habitat Design Award Winners

Landscape Architecture Category

Rinox Award for Best Emerging Landscape Architect
Francis Laforest
Student enrolled in Université de Montréal’s landscape architecture program

Habitat Design Grand Prize in Landscape Architecture
Category: Multi-Residential Complex
Ziad Haddad / WAA Montreal, Tour des Canadiens 3 (Ville-Marie)

Habitat Design Grand Prize in Landscape Architecture
Category: Single-Family
Stéphanie Desmeules / Paysages Spirituels et Thérapeutiques
Jardin des Duburcq-Douilliez, Orford region

Sales Office Category

Habitat Design Grand Prize – Sales Offices – Jury’s Choice:
Category: Projects of over $150 M
Le Sherbrooke (Ville-Marie)
Broccolini Construction inc. and Lemay Escobar, interior designer

Habitat Design Grand Prize – Sales Offices – Jury’s Choice:
Category: Projects $35 M to $100 M
Wellington sur le bassin (Southwest Montreal / Griffintown)
Devimco Immobilier and Blazys Gérard, interior designer

Habitat Design Award – Sales Offices – Jury’s Honourable Mention:
Le Newman (LaSalle)
DevMcGill/Cogir Real Estate and Gauvreau Design

Furnished Model Unit Category

Habitat Design Grand Prize – Furnished Model Units – Jury’s Choice:
Category: Units of under $375,000
Mellem Brossard
Maître Carré and ACDF Architecture, interior design

Habitat Design Grand Prize – Furnished Model Units– Jury’s Choice:
Category: Units between $375,000 and $500,000
Central Parc Laval
Groupe Saroukian and Gauvreau Design, interior design

Habitat Design Grand Prize – Furnished Model Units – Jury’s Choice:
Category: Units of over $750,000
Symphonia VIU (Nuns’ Islands / Verdun)
Westcliff Group, Caroline Sidaros and Alain Desgagné, interior design

Branding / Graphic Design Category

Habitat Design Award – Branding– Jury’s Honourable Mention:
Jardins Philomène (Ville Mercier)
Groupe Beaumont Élite II and Six communications

Creative Agency of the Year Category

Habitat Design Grand Prize–Creative Agency of the Year – Jury’s Choice:
Six communications

People’s Choice Category

Habitat Design Grand Prize
People’s Choice  –  Sales Offices
Central Parc Laval
Groupe Saroukian

Habitat Design Grand Prize
People’s Choice  –  Furnished Model Units
Marquise Condominiums (Laval)
Marquise Phase 6 SEC
Les Entreprises QMD inc.