The Life Sciences Building and Greenhouse at McMaster University introduce a fresh approach to studying life sciences and natural systems. The new 11,400-square-foot greenhouse is now connected to the main building, replacing the previous off-site facility. This space brings together research, teaching, and student life, creating a bright, welcoming entrance.

Just beyond the edge of the University of Guelph campus, tucked against the quiet green sprawl of the Guelph Arboretum, a new kind of research building has taken root. It doesn't shout for attention. Instead, it hums, quite literally, with the rhythm of thousands of tiny wings. This is the Honey Bee Research Centre (HBRC), a 14,000-square-foot facility built not just to study bees, but to make their world visible to everyone else.

On a secluded peninsula in the Ontario wilderness, where the lake is too still and too protected for motorboats to disturb it, a new kind of cottage has taken shape. It doesn't announce itself. It settles in, low against a ridge of exposed bedrock, before rising into the tree canopy on the other side. The effect is quietly dramatic: a home that seems to have grown out of its site rather than been placed on top of it.

In a city where the need for deeply affordable housing consistently outpaces its delivery, speed can feel like the enemy of good design. A new supportive housing project on Ossington Avenue in Toronto argues otherwise.

Just north of Toronto, perched on the edge of a wooded valley, sits Ravine House—a contemporary home that redefines what it means to live in harmony with nature. Rather than acting as a barrier against the outdoors or simply occupying a plot of land, this stunning residence acts as an immersive, beautiful mediator between comfortable domestic living and the natural landscape.