June 19, 2000

Baycrest's New Nursing Home Wins Architectural Award

Toronto, ON - Look up, way up! The spectacular skylit atrium that is the centrepiece of the new $60 million nursing home at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care has won a prestigious steel design award from the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC).

This month the CISC named the Winter Garden (atrium) at Baycrest's Apotex Centre, Jewish Home for the Aged the "outstanding steel structure" in the architectural category for Ontario.

The Winter Garden is a breath-taking, seven-storey high structural steel system of struts and ties that suggests a canopy of trees branching from the sides. The result is a bright and airy space where families, residents and staff can mingle and sit in a park-like setting beside imported Florida trees, a water pond, living reef marine aquarium, and seven-foot high bird cage with two colorful parrots.

"This was a complex project for a very large space," says Vic Lambert, Vice President of Information and Support Services at Baycrest Centre. "I applaud the architects and designers for rising to the challenge and creating a beautiful open space for our residents and their families as well as staff and visitors."

The project team included A.J. Diamond, Donald Schmitt and Company, Boigon Petroff Shepherd Architects Inc., and Benson Steel Ltd.

Baycrest's Apotex Centre, Jewish Home for the Aged can accommodate 472 residents requiring long-term care. More than half of the residents have some form of cognitive impairment.