RAIC National Urban Design Award winners highlight climate change, equity and justice

OTTAWA – The recipients of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s (RAIC) 2024 National Urban Design Awards, presented every two years, recognize the link between architects, planners and landscape architects in achieving successful urban design.

This year’s recipients were announced by the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects.

The National Urban Design Awards strive to raise awareness of the role urban design plays in maintaining and improving the quality of life in Canadian cities. They also recognize the efforts of individuals, organizations, companies and projects in this area, according to a press release.

Twelve winners have been selected from the six categories of the National Urban Design Award:

• Esplanade Tranquille, Les architectes FABG (Civic Design Projects)
• sθԙqԙlxenԙm ts’exwts’áxwi7 – Rainbow Park, DIALOG BC Architecture Engineering Interior Design Planning Inc. (Civic Design Projects)
• Children reimagine school streets, SPECTACLE Office of Architecture and Urban Planning (Community Initiatives)
• Fields and Streams: Harmonizing Urban Development with River Health through Local Industrial Use and Sedimentary Material Cycling, Preston Stronach (Student Projects)
• Maisonneuve Library Restoration and extension, EVOQ Architecture + civiliti (urban architecture)
• Stadium station, GEC Architecture (urban architecture)
• Queen’s Marque, MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects (Design Architects) in collaboration with FBM (Prime Consultants), (urban architecture)
• Downsview Framework Plan, Henning Larsen, KPMB Architects, SLA, Urban Strategies Inc., Northcrest Developments, Canada Lands Company (urban design plans)
• Exchange: Realization RiverWalk West, groundcubed + HEREBY (Urban Design Plans)
• Skeena Terrace Community Plan, Perkins&Will (urban development plans)
• Bentway Staging Grounds, SHEEEP in collaboration with Agency—Agency and The Bentway Conservancy (Urban Fragments)
• The Ring / L’Anneau, CCxA Architectes paysagistes Inc. (urban fragments)

“The entries were consistently of very high quality and focused on many of the topics that we as designers are all focused on in our ever-changing world – equity, equality, diversity and inclusivity, on climate change, on resilience and as always – on high quality . quality design for the many end users we want to serve,” said the jury. “Projects were described in the entries with high-quality images, photos of projects built, and evidence that these projects have made significant changes to the quality of life for Canadians across the country.”