Great Places Awards

Our Great Places Awards honour outstanding development projects that show a commitment to design excellence and innovation in urban design, sustainability and heritage conservation and contribute to a built environment that enhances our quality of life.

On this page:

1. About the Great Places Awards
2. 2023 winners
3. Past winners

About the Great Places Awards

Great places bring people together! They foster community pride, promote feelings of safety and well-being and contribute to the quality-of-life Kitchener residents expect. The Great Places Awards celebrate the people, businesses and organizations who make Kitchener a great place to live, work and play.

The Great Places Awards include:

• Urban Design Awards (first given in 1988)
• Mike and Pat Wagner Heritage Awards (first given in 1997)
• more categories added in 2015

Through the Great Places Awards, we honour projects that:

• demonstrate a commitment to design excellence and innovation in the areas of urban design, sustainability, and heritage conservation
• contribute to creating a built environment that enhances our quality of life

We’re setting the bar high for urban design in Kitchener, creating a city we love while celebrating creative, innovative approaches to great design.

2023 winners

Congratulations to the 2023 Great Places Awards winners! Click on the projects below to watch a quick video each winner.

Urban Design Excellence Award

• Low-Rise: The Wedge House, 605 York Street
• Mid-Rise: GloveBox, 114 Victoria Street South
• High Rise (residential): Charlie West, 60 Charles Street West
• High Rise (commercial): Breithaupt Block (Phase 3), 20 Breithaupt Street
• Civic: Queen Street Placemaking, Queen Street between Charles and Duke Streets

Placemaking Award

• Gaukel Block, Gaukel Street between Charles and Joseph Streets

Sustainable Kitchener Award

• YWKW Supportive Housing, 1470 Block Line Road

Future Design Leaders Award

• All Roads Lead to Roam, Ethan Zhang and Magdalena Kaczmarczyk, School of Architecture, University of Waterloo

People’s Choice Award

• One Young Street, 1 Young Street

Schmalz Award for Design Leadership

• GloveBox, 114 Victoria Street South

Mike and Pat Wagner Heritage Award

• Preservation / Restoration: The Legion Building, 48 Ontario Street North
• Preservation / Restoration: 87 Scott Street
• Rehabilitation / Adaptive Re-Use: American Hotel Building, 1 Queen Street North
• Rehabilitation / Adaptive Re-Use: Hog and Hen Barn Restoration, 883 Doon Village Road

Past winners

Open the accordions below to find past Great Places Awards winners.