Thirteen projects across Canada—each with a tremendous impact on the surrounding built environment—have been selected for the 2022 National Urban Design Awards.

The winning projects range from public spaces, social housing research, community plans and more.

The awards are a part of a two-tier program held in cooperation with Canadian municipalities.

The National Urban Design Awards program judged winners of the 2022 municipal awards and entries submitted at large.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CLSA) are pleased to announce the 2022 National Urban Design Award winners in the following categories:  

Civic Design
Award of Excellence

University of Toronto Scarborough Valley Land Accessible Trail (Toronto, ON)
Schollen & Company Inc., Brown & Company Engineering, Moon-Matz Ltd., GeoTerre Limited

This precedent-setting project exceeds the requirements of provincial accessibility legislation, providing an important link between the University Campus and the Highland Creek Valley corridor, a highly biodiverse Environmentally Significant Area. The trail offers all people access to nature in an equitable manner. The media has described the trail as “breathtaking” and a “new landmark” within the City of Toronto. The surrounding natural setting of the ravine is considered a “living laboratory” by the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC) and supports natural sciences-based curricula. The trail establishes an environmental and accessibility legacy for the UTSC and greater community. 

Community Initiatives
Award of Excellence

Corner Commons (Toronto, ON)
Perkins&Will
Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre  

Coordinated by the Jane/Finch Centre, Corner Commons is a temporary, free, and accessible public space. Installed for summer 2021, Corner Commons hosted a wide range of activities with local artists, resident leaders, grassroots groups, and various community organizations from the neighbourhood.  

As part of Perkins&Will’s Social Purpose program, employees were given the chance to contribute to our communities in direct and personal ways. The members of the Toronto studio helped design, paint, and repurpose the corner of the Jane Finch Mall parking lot into a thriving community hub.

Student Projects
Award of Excellence

Mobile Support as Shelter Support Infrastructure (Toronto, ON)
Yongmin Ye, Michelle Li, and Edward Minar Widjaja
Integrated Urbanism Studio
Professor:  Drew Adam 

Mobile Support as Shelter Support Infrastructure is an urban design project with the goal of constructing a mobile support system to serve the unhoused and precariously housed populations of Toronto. Homelessness is a dynamic issue where transportation is a major barrier to access services. Mobile Support as Shelter Support Infrastructure proposes a mobile support network accompanied by community-oriented interventions. The goal of this project is to provide people who are perceived as invisible and with no sense of dwelling in society a place with a permanent address.  

Certificate of Merit

Filling Pieces – Hall’s Lane Creative Studios (Kitchener, ON)
Vincent Chuang and Zihao Wei
Design Studio
Professor: Rick Haldenby  

This project envisions the future of Hall’s Lane, in downtown Kitchener, as an active cultural corridor where artists can exhibit and create their work while the community engages and learns. Eight artist studios of varying types are located between Queen Street and Gaukel Street providing community building activities through workshops, tools, and events. The laneway in this proposal is re-explored as a pedestrian space where the process of creating art is unfolded through the architecture. By partnering with local grassroots organizations, this project builds from, and emboldens, the existing arts and cultural infrastructure in downtown Kitchener.  

Urban Architecture 
Award of Excellence

True North Square (Winnipeg, MB)
Perkins&Will  

Capturing the unique spirit of Winnipeg, True North Square addresses its location with a climate-responsive design for a community-focused development. Creating towers of modest height responding to a central public square, the project prioritizes the pedestrian and seeks to repair the long-neglected fabric in which it is located. Product of a national competition, the project is active year-round, specifically focusing on transforming the character and lifestyle of the downtown. The ambitious public realm provides a myriad of amenities and open space to create a vibrant, 24/7, urban experience. The pedestrian-centric design also provides improved access to public transit and encourages active transportation.  

Certificate of Merit

Montauk Montréal (Montreal, QC)
Cohlmeyer Architecture

A highly invested client and enthusiastic design team convinced a reluctant authority to proceed with this daring showroom retrofit. Open space and natural light are integral to the project. Four storeys were opened to a green courtyard by carving out forty feet from the building. Each long showroom floor is bookended by either a full height glass wall overlooking the garden or a four-storey light well to the north. A reclaimed brick façade and subtle detailing reinforce an idea of reimagined architectural ruin. With deceptive simplicity this project convincingly rejuvenates an otherwise forgettable building into a beautiful showroom gallery and urban jewel.  

Urban Design Plans
Award of Excellence

Saugeen First Nation GZHE-MNIDOO GI-TA-GAAN (Creator’s Garden and Amphitheatre) Master Plan (Southampton, ON)
Indigenous Design Studio / Brook McIlroy Inc. and Saugeen First Nation

The Saugeen First Nation Amphitheatre and Creator’s Garden Master Plan will strengthen the community’s long-term economic viability while supporting the recovery of land-based knowledge known to Indigenous Peoples for millennia. The project is a co-design between community members and an interdisciplinary team led by Indigenous architects and designers. The restoration of Saugeen First Nation’s land surrounding the Amphitheatre is integral to the future success of the site, and supports the Garden’s emphasis on medicine knowledge, land-based learning and traditional storytelling. This emphasis heightens the potential for future programming based around medicine knowledge from a health, healing, and a horticultural perspective.  

Certificate of Merit

Plaza of Nations (Vancouver, BC)
James KM Cheng Architects Inc
Canadian Metropolitan Properties Corp.

The project is centrally located in the False Creek waterfront area of Vancouver as part of the designated Entertainment District. It is also one of two last remaining undeveloped waterfront sites in Vancouver. The goal of the project is to provide a much-needed waterfront gathering place for a world-class waterfront city. The project serves many roles: as a destination, a connector, a portal, a foreground, as well as a backdrop to the skyline of Vancouver. Therefore, the project is designed to be experienced at various scales as a unique, lively destination with a diverse public realm.  

Urban Fragments
Award of Excellence

PARK PARK (Calgary, AB)
Public City Architecture

PARK PARK is a surface parking lot in Calgary transformed into a multi-use space for people and vehicles. A two-year tactical intervention, it views the vehicle as a guest in an otherwise neighbourhood-oriented urban room. The pedestrian-focused park/parking lot features a phone charger, bike pump, library, basketball hoop, hockey targets, skateboarding elements, and a hand-warming area. The space also offers places to sit, eat, gather, or trade goods during community events. Meanwhile, revenue generation is maintained as only five of the original thirty parking spots were surrendered to the reconfigured urban park… park.  

Certificate of Merit

Place Monique-Mercure (Montreal, QC)
Civiliti

Place Monique-Mercure celebrates the landmark Art Deco architecture and interior design of the prestigious Théâtre Outremont in Montreal. Taking advantage of the removal of several parking spaces, the new design offers a small urban landscape with signature seating and lighting features. The seating is composed of a continuous band of granite and stainless-steel inserts that honour a typical Art Deco geometrical line motif, as do the simple sculptural volumes that create the different spatial nooks. Three stainless-steel lightboxes create a warm night ambiance. Their floral design reinterprets a pattern found in the interior of the main theatre.

Certificate of Merit

CF Toronto Eaton Centre Bridge (Toronto, ON)
WilkinsonEyre, Design Architect; Zeidler Architecture, Executive Architect

Located near the busy intersection of Yonge and Queen Street, the CF Toronto Eaton Centre Bridge is a striking public landmark that replaces an inaccessible bridge from the 1970s. The new structure seamlessly links two contrasting buildings— the Romanesque Revival Hudson’s Bay Building at its south end, and the postmodern CF Toronto Eaton Centre to the north. Encased in floor-to-ceiling glass and bronze panels with spiraling angles, the bridge’s dynamic sculptural form gently hovers over busy Queen Street. It is a prominent reminder of the importance of creating infrastructure that is accessible and functional, yet graceful and eye-catching. 

Sustainable Development
Award of Excellence

Lakeview Village (Mississauga, ON) 
Lakeview Community Partners Limited

Lakeview Village is a 177-acre development combining high-quality housing, office and retail space, dedicated arts and cultural facilities, and recreational areas including trails for walking and cycling. The 15-minute city also includes local access to a portion of Lake Ontario that was once occupied by a coal-fired power plant. Lakeview Village integrates greenspace, transit accessibility, and sustainable low-carbon green technologies such as District Energy and vacuum waste collection. The site’s natural environment serves as an outstanding feature of the development through the remediation of Serson Creek, a 600-metre pier on Lake Ontario, and access to the adjacent Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area.  

Small or Medium Community Urban Design Award
Award of Excellence

Yarmouth Main Street Redevelopment Phase 2 (Yarmouth, NS)
Fathom Studio

This project re-imagines the relationship between people and their ‘Main Street’. The project highlights the town’s unique setting for visitors and the local community in the public realm. The region-specific design language reinforces Yarmouth’s sense of place and creates an unforgettable experience. This project brings to life the community’s needs and aspirations through clever and carefully considered design details. Yarmouth’s Main Street is an example of what other municipalities can do to instill a sense of pride within their community and attract people and business to their region and downtowns. 

Jury for the 2022 National Urban Design Awards 

Marc Boutin, AAA, FRAIC, RCA  

Audrey Farias, RPP, MCIP, PMP, MUDS, BARCH, LEED AP  

Emeka Nnadi, MALA, SALA, CSLA, ASLA, LEED AP    

Karen Russell, MEDes, RPP, FCIP, Professional Advisor 

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