Stantec announces winners of inaugural Stanley Awards

Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, announced the winners of its inaugural Stanley Awards, recognizing outstanding achievement and innovation among its teams. The external, international jury was chaired by Bruce Kuwabara, founding partner of KPMB Architects, and included Stephen Phillips, retired senior vice president for Stantec; Younha Rhee, director of sustainability and environmental design for Atelier Ten; Wendy Hillis, assistant vice chancellor and campus architect for the University of California Berkeley; and James Brittain, award-winning architectural photographer.

They reviewed more than 170 submissions and selected the Award of Excellence winners and Award of Merit honorees in six categories: Public Realm, Architecture, Interior Design, Engineering, Innovation, and Drawing. One project was honored with the overall Grand Prix recognition.

The awards highlight the visionary work and collaborative spirit that drive the firm forward, setting new benchmarks for integrated design and leadership across disciplines.

Grand Prix: FortWhyte Alive’s Buffalo Crossing Visitor Centre
FortWhyte Alive’s Buffalo Crossing Visitor Centre won the Grand Prix at the Stanley Awards for its ambitious, innovative, and sustainable design. Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, it serves as a unique gateway to an environmental education and recreation nature campus and addresses climate change achieving Canada’s Zero Carbon Building Design Standard and Passive House certification targets. The facility relies on passive features like shape and orientation, uses mass timber, and offers a refined, open, and welcoming architectural experience. Buffalo Crossing demonstrates what thoughtful sustainable design can achieve.

Public Realm category: Pattern District Master Plan
Inspired by New England’s villages, the Pattern District Master Plan for Newton, Massachusetts, replaces a sea of parking with a dynamic new neighborhood. It creates a network of public landscapes, acres of parks, and green infrastructure with stormwater management. The jury felt this transformation of a strip mall into a walkable neighborhood was a beautiful concept and great example of a holistic approach to sustainability. They appreciated the designers’ investigation of ecological history in creating a new urban realm as well as their restoration of natural features.

Public Realm Awards of Merit: Alief Neighborhood Centre & Park, JJ Carroll Redevelopment Intergenerational Gardens, McGregor Square Ballpark District

Architecture category: FortWhyte Alive’s Buffalo Crossing Visitor Centre
The Stanley jury found the integration of architecture, engineering and landscape in this mass-timber visitor centre elegant and remarkable. They admired its sculptural, dynamic design that contrasts with typical timber grids. The two-story structure effectively uses a triangular plan, centralizes services, connects with the water, and orients visitors to the nature preserve beyond. The rounded upper outdoor spaces also help reduce visual mass.

Architecture Awards of Merit: Anishnawbe Health Toronto Indigenous Community Health Centre, U.S. Consulate General Erbil, Yale University Kline Tower Renovation

Interior Design category: Stella’s Place
Stella’s Place offers free mental health services to young adults aged 16 to 29 in downtown Toronto, Ontario. For its new central site—a renovated three-story former candy factory—the design team collaborated with participants, counselors, and staff to create a welcoming space for meals, support, skill-building, and connection. The interior design honors both the new mission and the historic character of the building.

Interior Design Awards of Merit: First Canadian Centre, Seattle University Jim and Janet Sinegal Center for Science and Innovation, Southline

Innovation category: Denver Water Administration Building
The Stanley Jury members were impressed by Denver Water’s circular water use story and ability to collect rainwater, gray water, and black water and then treat it, and recycle it all at the building level. They acknowledged it was a difficult concept to realize, showing deft coordination of architecture and engineering, as well as deep commitment from the client and facility managers. One jury member said, “this is the future of Stantec,” a project showing how a multidisciplinary firm can collaborate and integrate architectural and engineering solutions to deliver a beautiful building.

Innovation Awards of Merit: Architecture to Zettelkasten | A2Zett: An Approach to Design Knowledge Organization, ZenDen

Engineering category: FortWhyte Alive’s Buffalo Crossing Visitor Centre
With its third win, Buffalo Crossing was recognized for using environmental analysis in integrated architectural and engineering solutions. The jury highlighted its Passive House certification efforts, reducing heating demand through airtightness and MEP design. Its energy performance and low-carbon use of mass timber stood out, addressing both operational and embodied emissions. The submission was also commended for clearly presenting the analytical process behind its engineering.

Engineering Awards of Merit: British Columbia Institute of Technology Health Sciences Centre, Southeast Transit Garage, R&D campus for a confidential client

Drawing category: Landscape Drawing Series
This playful series of colorful sketches supported a variety of pursuits and projects. These vibrant images also provoked a thoughtful discussion about the value of hand-drawn iterative diagrammatic imagery versus technically accurate renderings.

Drawing Awards of Merit: Fuse at Mason Square, Gould Fire Station, Universal Door Meditation Center

Learn more about how Stantec offers an integrated approach to achieve holistic design excellence, discovering the best solutions from across disciplines to enhance the resilience of our communities, empower organizations to succeed responsibly, and foster environments where people can thrive.

About Stantec
Stantec empowers clients, people, and communities to rise to the world’s greatest challenges at a time when the world faces more unprecedented concerns than ever before. 

We are a global leader in sustainable engineering, architecture, and environmental consulting. Our professionals deliver the expertise, technology, and innovation communities need to manage aging infrastructure, demographic and population changes, the energy transition, and more.

Today’s communities transcend geographic borders. At Stantec, community means everyone with an interest in the work that we do—from our project teams and industry colleagues to our clients and the people our work impacts. The diverse perspectives of our partners and interested parties drive us to think beyond what’s previously been done on critical issues like climate change, digital transformation, and future-proofing our cities and infrastructure.

We are designers, engineers, scientists, project managers, and strategic advisors. We innovate at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships to advance communities everywhere, so that together we can redefine what’s possible.

Stantec trades on the TSX and the NYSE under the symbol STN.

Media Contact
Susan Bender
Stantec Media Relations
Ph: (267) 773-9593
susan.bender@stantec.com