2009 Ottawa Urban Design Awards

I am happy to have recently discovered the Ottawa Urban Design Award in which the city encourages design excellence and innovation by honoring the people who made a difference in the capital.

The winners from the previous competition were:

Urban Infill Category

• 700 Sussex (Award of Excellence)
• 100 Murray (Award of Merit)
• 131 Queen Street (Award of Merit)

700 Sussex (photo : Alan Fleming Real Estate)

Public Spaces and Civic Spaces Category

• Corktown Footbridge (Award of Excellence)
• Lakeridge Square (Award of Merit)

Corktown Footbridge (photo : Ullysse)

Urban Element Category

• Confederation Boulevard Urban Furnishing (Award of Merit)

Confederation Boulevard Urban Furnishing (photo : City of Ottawa)

Special Jury Award Category

• Preston Square

Preston Square (photo : City of Ottawa)

Student Project Category

• Bikevine (Award of Excellence)
• International Congress Center (Award of Merit)
• Re-imaging the Rockcliffe Airbase
• Schlinoffitel

Bikevine (photo : unleashedlive)

In order to participate, your project must have been built between September 1, 2007 and September 1, 2009. The winning projects must :

• Demonstrate design and architectural excellence
• Demonstrate clear urban design intent
• Contribute to the wider appreciation of urban design
• Demonstrate a positive contribution to the public realm / quality of place
• Contribute to the city’s environmental and ecological health (e.g. LEED designation)
• Connect to their locality
• Be important to pedestrian and liveability issues
• Be innovative and trend setting
• Be open to transformation

The competition is open to urban designers, planners, landscape architects, architects, engineers, developers, contractors, consultants, owners, students and the general public who have contributed to Ottawa’s urban landscape.

All types of publicly visible/accessible urban development projects are eligible :

• Parks and Open Spaces
• Buildings (Residential, Mixed-use, Recreational, Commercial, Institutional and Industrial)
• Civic Structures
• Building Additions and Exterior Renovations
• Public Utilities
• Street Improvements
• Adaptive Reuse

Submissions must be delivered by 4 p.m. on August 20, 2009

I'm looking forward to see what Ottawa has to offer this year!