The Songhees Wellness Centre took the Judges’ Choice Award for overall excellence at the 23rd Annual Commercial Building Awards, presented today at a special awards luncheon.
The Wellness Centre provides a wide variety of community activities and events. It features a full-size gymnasium, fitness centre, health centre and teaching kitchen, along with conference facilities with multiple meeting rooms, administration offices and an industrial-sized kitchen.
“The selection of Nominees this year is as strong as we have ever seen, and the number of entrants is the most that we have ever had; the judges really had their work cut out for them” said Mike Lagadyn, Chair of the Commercial Division. “The mix of projects we saw are a wonderful mix of rehabilitated heritage buildings, right through to modern new builds. These building truly shape our city, and that’s why these awards are so important.”
The Judges’ Choice was just one of the 18 awards presented today, all of which honoured excellence in new and renovated commercial developments completed in the past year.
In addition to the Judges’ Choice Award, The Douglas Magazine Community Award was presented to Be Love and La Taquisa Restaurants; and the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Green Award was awarded to Midtown Park.
This year’s judges were: Karen Hillel of Hillel Architecture; Glenn Balderston designated appraiser with D.R. Coell & Associates; and commercial realtors Dave Bornhold of DTZ Victoria and Mike Lagadyn of DFH Real Estate Ltd.
To be eligible, all commercial new or renovation projects must have been completed between June 1, 2013 and May 31, 2014. Competition judges, who are selected from Victoria’s business community, look at the overall exterior of each building or development project and how it fits into the surrounding area. They base their final decisions on projects that are sensitive to the environment, are aesthetically pleasing and answer a specific developmental need within the community.
The Commercial Building Awards competition, now in its 23rd year, continues to promote advancement of excellence in commercial construction and design within Greater Victoria.
