a—A
Don Mills Jamatkhana and Ismaili Community Centre Wins 2023 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence!
Don Mills Jamatkhana and Ismaili Community Centre has been recognised by jurors of Canadian Architect for being "a great contemporary interpretation of Islamic architecture," and "a masterful composition of texture and natural light." Located in the Toronto suburb of Thorncliffe Park on the site of the first Ismaili prayer hall in Ontario, the Ismaili Centre will mark the 50th anniversary of the original building, a celebration of the community presence of the Ismaili branch of Shi’a Islam.
a—A is a design practice based in Toronto engaged in the act of city building, providing full architectural services across a wide range of contexts, scales and building types—from schools, galleries and cultural centres, to affordable housing and mixed-use developments, to urban parks and civic precincts. We work with clients and collaborators in Canada, the United States, and Europe. We are designers, researchers and urbanists who care about the city, and take care to create spaces that give meaning and invention to the ways we live and work.
Fred Kaiser Engineering Building
Canadian Chancery Expansion
Don Mills Jamatkhana and Ismaili Community Centre
Burnt Barns
Centre for Civilizations, Cultures & Cities
Cairns Family Health & Bioscience Research Complex
Pan/Parapan American Games Athletes' Village
The Farm
ÏCE at York Centre
Pickering Library
The Grand at Sky View Parc
West Don Lands Block 8
Pond Road Student Residence
Pier 27 Phases 1 & 2
St. James Cathedral Centre
Ravine House
11 Charlotte
West Don Lands Blocks 3/4/7
Escarpment House
383 Sorauren
Theatre Park
Harbour Plaza
Museum of Contemporary Art
Four Seasons Hotel & Residences
Thompson Hotel & Residences
West Block
Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research
Junction Point
Pickering Performing Arts Centre
The Canary precinct is sophisticated proof (and a quiet rallying cry) that intelligent cities should renew the currency of the well-crafted ‘block’ as the real medium in which we can grow good neighbourhoods.
A masterful composition of texture and natural light. The delicate building skin adds magic to an otherwise simple and economical building massing. [...] A great contemporary interpretation of Islamic architecture.
We think something’s done and it’s never done. The interesting thing about cities is that they’re never finished.