CITYnews halifax/ Prestigious architecture award went to a New Brunswick firm, proving that local projects can receive national acclaim

CITYnews halifax / By Emma Amodio

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects (MLSA), a New Brunswick-based architecture firm took home the 2026 Governor General’s Medal in Architecture for its Hilltop Cottage project, showing how small projects in the Maritimes can have significant cultural relevance.

Brian Mackay-Lyons of MLSA has received this honour nine times, and said that while the firm has bigger projects across Canada, they “keep on winning for these very modest things in the Maritimes.”

He said the Governor General’s Medal in Architecture is the most prestigious award for architects across Canada — equivalent to a JUNO award for musicians. The award is administered by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and the Canada Council for the Arts.

MacKay-Lyons stated the modesty of the projects they are recognized for are usually part of a maritime cultural ethic about about being understated, demonstrating that architectural excellence does not just belong in big cities. The Hilltop Cottage sits on a hilltop overlooking the St. John River and has a 360-degree view of the surrounding landscape — what MacKay-Lyons described as a “little temple on a hilltop.”

Prioritizing sustainability is a key factor in eligibility for this award, and the hilltop cottage does just that. Made completely of wood, the cottage was constructed off the materials of the land.

“The Hilltop Cottage is very, very, very simple,” said MacKay-Lyons. “So that’s also a kind of principle of environmental sustainability.”

In 2017, the firm received the global award for sustainable architecture in Paris — which MacKay-Lyons said is the international award for the most sustainable architecture in the world. Ironically, he said, this is an international award for work in a very particular part of the world, the Maritimes.

Since then, the firm has been responsible for embassies and museums around the world. Currently, they are working on the Canadian Embassy in Australia, which, as MacKay-Lyons put it, is a long way from Nova Scotia.

“We’re described as making projects that are of place, about the landscape and climate and the material culture where we live,” he explained. “It’s ironic, the more local you are, the more international you can be.”

MacKay-Lyons said him and his partner have been doing work locally for years, and over decades, people all around the world have started to take notice.

“Our work is simple and understated like we are as a people.”