Congratulations to Gavin Horn, who won a Merit Award for his conceptual design project, Tour de Main, at the 2024 Sara Student National Design Awards. The Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) invites post-secondary students to submit their best built and unbuilt works for the annual award competition. Gavin’s project was the only one from a Canadian post-secondary school to be recognized.
Tour de Main, a mixed-use, high-performance building bisected by a looped bike ramp, was Gavin’s graduation project from the BCIT Bachelor of Architectural Science program. He worked on this project for the entirety of his fourth year – spending one semester doing research and the second designing the building in detail.
It’s important to clarify that Tour de Main is a conceptual design and not an actual construction project.
Tour de Main: Healthy living and sustainability at the forefront
The six-story building is thought to be located at the intersection of Main Street and King Edward Avenue. One key feature of this project is the use of mass timber, a sustainably sourced renewable material with a lower environmental impact than concrete and steel. The building also includes a rainwater collection system and a solar array on the rooftop.
This mixed-use development features a community-based bike shop with a classroom, bike storage units for residents, and a unique looped bike ramp on the top floors.
From LEGO bricks to the BCIT Architecture program
From LEGO bricks to the BCIT Architecture programThroughout childhood, Gavin and his brothers built cities using LEGO bricks. Gavin knew from an early age that this was more than just a fun game. His passion for architecture grew over time, and in high school he taught himself how to use professional architectural software so he could build things – his way.
Choosing the Architectural and Building Technology diploma at BCIT was an obvious decision for Gavin.
“BCIT seemed like the most natural option for me because the program has a strong technical focus. The diploma seemed like a great way to get hands-on experience and better understand how buildings work in real life.”
Gavin says BCIT’s positive learning environment and hands-on courses, taught by industry professionals, made him decide to further pursue the Bachelor of Architectural Science degree.
Gavin worked on Tour de Main during the final year of his Bachelor’s program. With encouragement from his instructors, he submitted the project to the SARA Student 
National Design Awards. He traveled along with his father to New York to receive the award.
“It was an amazing experience being able to travel to New York to receive this award that recognizes all the hard work I put into this project.”
Gavin graduated from BCIT in the summer of 2024 and since then, he has been working as an architectural technologist at a firm in Vancouver.