Durham College announced today that its Centre for Food (CFF), which is known for its unique blend of creativity and innovation in design, has been awarded a 2015 Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO) Award.

ARIDO, which conducts the annual ARIDO Awards to showcase excellence, innovation and originality in interior design, recognized the CFF in the Public and Institutional Spaces category with entrants judged on design elements, budget and project objectives, strategies employed, overall creativity, examples of project results and sustainability and collaborative elements.

With the capacity to accommodate 900 students, the CFF is Durham Region’s first-ever post-secondary presence focused on field-to-fork. Designed by Gow Hastings Architects, it offers warm woods, soft stones and natural colours that create an inviting and open atmosphere conveying a connection to nature. Ample windows cast light into the heart of the building’s atrium where a two-storey living-wall herb garden highlights the space. The atrium also serves as a central meeting place for special events and celebrations. Showcasing food preparation, the windows on the floor above provide a glimpse into the culinary labs, where marble, Corian, stainless steel and ceramic tile reduce visual clutter, maintain sanitation and enhance function.

“Gow Hastings Architects truly brought our vision for the CFF to life,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College. “We were committed to the creation of a unique teaching and learning facility that could also support cooking demonstrations, workshops and corporate events; Bistro ’67, our full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant; and Pantry, our retail store, while utilizing eco-friendly elements and maintaining an atmosphere of innovation and creativity. This wonderful recognition confirms that we have done just that.”

Celebrating the best in Ontario’s design profession, the ARIDO Awards bring superior design to the forefront each year by recognizing winning projects in ten different categories: residential; retail spaces; workplaces; health-care facilities; marketing centres; public and institutional spaces; hotels and recreational spaces; restaurants, bars and clubs; restoration and adaptive reuse; and special projects.

While recognizing the exceptional work of ARIDO members, the awards also serve to raise public awareness of the power and effect of interior design among the Ontario public.

“It is an exceptional privilege and honour to win this award,” said Valerie Gow, partner, Gow Hastings Architects. “This award, one of the most highly regarded distinctions in the interior design community, recognizes excellence, innovation and creativity through an intense competition adjudicated by esteemed industry representatives. We are extremely proud that the CFF was selected as one of the best design projects in Ontario.”

Created by the college in direct response to the demands of the local culinary, hospitality, tourism, agriculture and horticulture sectors, the CFF houses a 70-seat, green-certified restaurant, Bistro ’67, and Pantry, a retail store featuring fresh-baked items, meals-to-go, preserved foods and ready-to-cook meals created by students in the college’s culinary programs. The grounds feature an apple orchard, agricultural planting fields, gardens and greenhouses that support academic applied-learning and research while growing fruits, vegetables and other produce for use in its kitchens, laboratories and Bistro ‘67.