Photo courtesy CCBDA

With a new roof fabricated from 450-g (16-oz) copper sheet, St Patrick's Basilica in downtown Montreal was one of three Canadian projects recognized for the innovative use of copper and copper alloys.

A Quebec church, an Ontario health centre, and a New Brunswick government building were honoured by the continent's copper industry for their gleaming use of the element. Held by the Copper Development Association (CDA) in collaboration with the Canadian Copper and Brass Development Association (CCBDA), the 2009 North American Copper in Architecture Awards program recognized 12 projects across the continent, including three from Canada's east coast.

Montreal's St. Patrick's Basilica (Werleman Guy McMahon Architects) won in the restoration/renovation category for its $5-million renovation that included an extensive new copper batten-seam roof and an ornate copper spire.

Also winning in this category was the New Brunswick Legislature Assembly Building (D.M. Steeves & Associates). The Fredericton project involved handcrafted copper fabrications of the structure's 41-m (135-ft) wide dome.

In the new construction category, the sole Canadian award recipient was Owen Sound, Ontario's Grey-Bruce Health Centre (Lett Architects and Salter Pilon Architecture). The multi-use facility's exterior features an extensive skin of vertical copper cladding—approximately 840 m² (9000 sf) of flat-lock copper panels installed in a staggered pattern.

Photo courtesy Ben Rahn at A Frame Studios

East Coast sheen: At Grey-Bruce Health Centre in Owen Sound, Ont., the exterior, vertical copper cladding is designed to patinate, evolving to the green colour common in eastern Canada.