Skip to content

Nanaimo private school wins top prize at Vancouver Island building awards

Discover Montessori School honoured as Judges’ Choice winner
web1_240424-nbu-vi-commercial-building-awards-1_1
Discover Montessori School was chosen best overall at the Vancouver Island Commercial Building Awards. (News Bulletin photo)

A private school in Nanaimo was chosen best overall at the Vancouver Island Commercial Building Awards.

Discover Montessori School topped 45 finalists to become the Judges’ Choice Best Overall Winner at the awards, held at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre on April 11. The awards recognize the Island’s best commercial, industrial, institutional and revenue-producing properties built on the central and north Island.

The school, located at 3460 Jingle Pot Rd., also won the Award of Excellence in the community-institutional category. Project general contractor was Tectonica Management Inc. with design by Checkwitch Poiron Architects.

“Discover Montessori School started with a goal of becoming an example of how an environmentally sustainable campus can be a creative, inviting, inspiring and wondrous space for children to learn. They wanted to show that a zero-carbon approach can be affordable, replicable and sustainable for generations to come,” noted a press release.

Tectonica also took home an Award of Excellence for Duo Townhomes in Parksville in the multi-family townhome category.

Nanaimo-based Island West Coast Developments took home Award of Excellence trophies for Nanaimo Honda in retail and Lake House Physio and Therapy in Lake Cowichan. Nanaimo Honda was designed by Nanaimo’s Raymond DeBeeld Architect Inc.

The Safety Award went to Milestone Equipment Contracting Inc. and Construction Company of the Year Award to Principle Properties.

Other Nanaimo projects won awards of excellence in several categories. Hammond Bay Residences on Hammond Bay Road, built by Westmark Construction Ltd. and designed by Murdoch and Co. won in the affordable housing category; Long Lake Views on Wellington Road, built by Technifield Contracting Ltd. and designed by D-Architecture won in the mixed-use category; Prospect on Haliburton Street, built by Parkshore Projects and designed by Matthew T. Hansen Architect won in the multi-family condominum category; In Space Childcare on Stephenson Point Road, built by Monashee Rim Developments Ltd. and designed by Raymond DeBeeld Architect Inc. for renovations.

Awards of Merit went to École Hammond Bay Elementary School and Nanaimo Fire Station No. 1.

READ ALSO: Nanaimo’s new Brechin United Church wins at Vancouver Island building awards