KPMB Architects Awarded Two Governor General’s Medals in 2022 for Education Projects in the United States

June 6th, 2022

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) announced the recipients of the 2022 Governor General’s Medals in Architecture. The Governor General’s Medals in Architecture recognize and celebrate outstanding design in recently built projects by Canadian architects.

KPMB Architects has been awarded two of twelve prizes distributed in 2022 for the Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building & Louis A. Simpson International Building on the Princeton University campus and The Brearley School in New York City. Over the past 35 years, KPMB has won a total of eighteen Governor General’s Medals for excellence in design and architecture.

Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building & Louis A Simpson International Building

Princeton University’s campus is simultaneously grounded in the past and continuously evolving to respond to future needs. The Julis Romo Rabinowitz Building & Louis A Simpson International Building represents the latest generation of campus development, prioritizing the regeneration of existing buildings. Built for the Department of Chemistry in 1929 by prominent Collegiate Gothic architect Charles Klauder, the challenge was to balance the preservation and restoration of the heritage exterior with a contemporary interior transformation to a light-filled, interconnected destination for the Department of Economics and International Initiatives.

“The careful design of this project promotes a respectful relation between historic building preservation and contemporary architecture. The building creates generous spaces, brings abundant light into an interior courtyard, and creates a truly livable space,” remarked this year’s jury.

The Brearley School

How can design create a platform for asserting the intellectual and physical presence of the girl in our society and her potential to transform the world? Brearley’s mission combines outstanding academics with a higher purpose to nurture the intellect and character of young girls and prepare them to be leaders and innovators of social transformation. The design of its first new building in over a century unlocks the power and potential of the Brearley program and community with a flexible, interconnected, light-filled, multi-purpose learning landscape.

“The implementation of a school in a dense urban environment presents significant challenges. The jury noted well distributed vertical functions without affecting the fluidity of movement while simultaneously creating collaborative spaces,” commented the jury. “The new tower is finely integrated into the urban fabric both by its massing and the composition of its facades, creating a gateway to the campus. This project is a bold urban redevelopment project that showcases student life activities on the street: a sign of hope for the future.”

This competition was established by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts in order to raise general public awareness of the cultural importance of architecture in our society and continue a tradition initiated by the Massey Medals in 1950.

“The recipients of the Governor General’s Medals in Architecture have distinguished themselves as visionary Canadian architects. They have designed spaces where communities are forged, memories are enshrined and identity is created in built form,” said the RAIC and Canada Council.

We extend our sincere congratulations to all the winners. Find the full list of winners here.