NWOSA Urban Design Awards
“Reflecting excellence in architecture and urban design - recognizing a local business / property owner who has renovated, built or developed a property (building or landscape) that provides a positive contribution to the quality of our built urban environment.”
NWOSA Members vote on a project deserving of their “Urban Design Award” the Spring of each year. The recipient of this award will have a Tree and Bench with a Plaque recognizing their projects positive contribution to the built urban environment installed in an urban setting chosen in cooperation with the City of Thunder Bay Parks Division.
This Award recognizes a building or group of buildings that contribute to, and support, an urban design initiative. The nomination may be for an individual building or group of buildings, of high architectural standard, which achieve urban design excellence through their unique relationship with their immediate surroundings because of siting, massing, and pedestrian amenities. The building(s) will also contribute to defining a special relationship with the neighboring urban fabric.
Criteria for Award:
The primary criteria for assessing the merit of the plan will be:
- compatibility with the urban initiative
- positive contribution to the public realm
- architectural excellence
- demonstration of the value of urban design – how the urban design plan directed and influenced the building
2012 Award Recipients
In the inaugural year of the NWOSA Urban Design Award, three Nominees were chosen from the City of Thunder Bay’s Clean Green Beautiful Diamond Level Award Recipients. Through Special Funding provided by the Ontario Association of Architects, NWOSA were able to recognize all three Diamond Level recipients with the NWOSA Urban Design Award. The three recipient for 2012 include:
- Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board
(Owner: TBDSSAB, Architect: FORM)
- Prince Arthur's Landing
(Owner: City of Thunder Bay, Architect: BMI)
- Superior North EMS Headquarters
(Owner: City of Thunder Bay, Architect: Habib Architects)
City of Thunder Bay Clean, Green & Beautiful Webpage
Click here.
Recent Projects (2013 - ongoing)
The Red River Road and Algoma Street Project
In an effort to recognize all three 2012 recipients in an installment within an urban setting – NWOSA executive (Cory Stechyshyn | Andy Puiatti) worked with City of Thunder Bay Parks representatives (Werner Schwar | Brad Doff) to select an urban location that would benefit from an installation of several trees and benches.
The city owned land adjacent the Magnus Theatre at the corner of Red River Road and Algoma Streets was chosen for its highly visible location adjacent the live performance theatre and its presence along one of the city’s most historical image routes, the former Dawson Trail. This July six trees and a park bench were installed in recognition of the 2012 recipients as the beginning of a much grander vision for this strip of land.
A parkette design is being developed through the volunteer efforts of NWOSA members and Werner Schwar (also a Landscape Architect) that will see the installation of several more trees, benches and other soft and hard landscape elements, public art and interpretive elements to recognize this urban strip alongside the Red River Road Image Route.
Before
After
