October 14, 2025

The GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN Awards is an international competition that celebrates the excellence and the talent of creative professionals and firms who have distinguished themselves through exemplary practice. York University Markham Campus has received Gold Certification in the Public Building / Higher Education & Research Building category and is now in the running for the title of Platinum and Grand Winner. 

The design of York University Markham Campus innovates by challenging the traditional academic building typology, defining a collegial academic community within a 10-storey vertical campus. 

Spanning 400,000 square feet, the academic building accommodates 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students across a collection of different programs. Ten stories of highly flexible teaching and learning spaces are organized around a dynamic, multi-storey atrium and vertical podium. This open and interconnected central forum serves as a social and academic crossroads for the university.

A key challenge was the site’s high-water table and poor load bearing capacity. A six-metre grade change was created as a design solution to address the site’s upward water pressure. Thus, the building opens onto a sloping Campus Green at three levels, strengthening its connection to the new landscape, as well as to future development phases which will include a second academic building and student residence.

Establishing a strong urban presence and identity within Markham’s emerging city centre, the building is expressed by bronze-anodized aluminum clads on the exterior, punctuated by a syncopated fenestration pattern and deep building recesses at mid-levels and curved geometries in plan that give it a dynamic presence.

The GRANDS PRIX winners will be announced at the event on November 13th. 

The People’s Choice Award voting is now open. Learn more and vote for York University Markham Campus here.