Renovated Scarborough buildings win Urban Design Awards. Albert Campbell Library Branch and the Clark Centre for the Arts in Guildwood Village were recognized for their sophisticated designs.
Scarborough buildings are some of the nicest looking in town, according to a citywide design award.
The City of Toronto’s Urban Design Awards recently recognized two newly renovated Scarborough buildings as 2025 award winners. The Albert Campbell Library Branch on Birchmount Road and the Clark Centre for the Arts in Guildwood Village were both selected as part of the biannual showcase of the city’s best architecture.
The Albert Campbell Library won an Award of Excellence in the category of “Public Buildings in Context.” The jury pointed to the “abundance of natural light,” “quality of the acoustics,” the “undulating geometry of the timber soffit” and the “playful meandering approach to the main entrance that is accessible to all” as some of the library’s winning qualities.
The Clark Centre for the Arts, located inside Guild Park and Gardens, is a cultural facility offering specialized arts programming, gallery space, and studio space to all Toronto residents. The building won a Special Jury Award as a Community Incubator. The jury liked the design’s “light-touch approach to the existing building, enhancing its presence through a graceful new foyer and a beautiful forecourt garden.”
The Urban Design Awards began 35 years ago as a way to recognize and celebrate the best of Toronto architecture, landscape architecture and urban art and design. For the 2025 awards, the jury received 104 submissions across 8 categories. In June the jury met to decide on a shortlist of buildings to tour before making their final decisions. The award winners were announced in November.
Both the Albert Campbell Library and the Clark Centre are open to the public and regularly host public events.
