THE POWER OF GOOD DESIGN

JURY HANDS OUT 11 AWARDS, INCLUDING TWO GRAND PRIZE DESIGNATIONS

One place is where athletes display the power of the human body, the other is a tribute to the power of the human mind and our ability to generate power from water.

The 2022 Niagara Region Biennial Design Awards were handed out on Wednesday, Jan. 18, and in a sign of just how high quality the nominations were, there were two grand prize winners: The Niagara Parks Power Station and the Neil Campbell Rowing Centre.

"The jury was impressed by the range and quality of design is happening in Niagara. They were very pleased to review projects spanning many design categories, scales, contexts and budgets," said jurist Gordon Stratford.

But among the 35 submissions it was those two that stood out.

For members involved in both projects, the recognition was just further proof of the hard work those involved put into each design.

Bill Schenck, commissioner of the Canadian Henley Rowing Corporation, said while they didn't go into the project with the idea of winning awards and recognition, those involved knew the project had a chance to be special right from the start.

"It was a piece of the puzzle that had been missing," he said.

The facility was used at last summer's Canada Summer Games, and will continue to be well-used. The city will host the 2024 World Rowing Senior, Under 23 and Junior championships.

Jurists called the project "elegant" and awarded a grand prize for the best new building.

"The design is a master class in 'less is so much more'; showing what can be achieved with the least amount of ornamentation to beautifully capture a space that connects to its surroundings," the jury wrote.

For David Adames, CEO of Niagara Parks, the award for their power station was a cherry on top for a project that has already garnered much attention. Since opening he said there's been plenty of buzz from the public, including the recently held Cool As Ice gala.

"It was an awesome feeling (to

win). This was a team win, a team project," he said.

Whereas on Henley Island it was a new building fitting into an existing site, the power station was a rethinking of a building that's more than a century old, turning it into a site the public can visit and where they can learn about Niagara's power generation history.

The jury awarded the grand prize for its approach to adaptive reuse.

"It is like no other project submitted and is beautifully executed," the jurists said.

"(It) displays the archeology of modern tools and is a cultural heritage artifact of the pioneering electrical era."

But Adames was also quick to spread the acclaim around.

"I was struck by the quality of all the projects," he said. "All the designs were beautiful."

In total, 11 designs received recognition across three levels: Grand prize, outstanding achievement, and award of excellence.

Here are the other winners and their categories.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT

Walker Sports and Abilities Centre, architecture; Niagara College Student Commons, architecture; Lincoln's Rotary Park, landscape architecture; Niagara Region's Bridge Street roundabout in Niagara Falls, landscape architecture; The Gardens at the Pillar & Post Inn, landscape architecture; Niagara-onthe-Lake

Museum's poppy project, outdoor art; and Thorold's Port Robinson Ecological Park Master Plan, visionary design;

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Spirit in Niagara Distillery, architecture; and Lincoln's Downtown Bench Alley in Beamsville, outdoor art.

ABOUT THE AWARDS

This was the second Niagara Biennial Design Award ceremony. The event replaced the former community design awards and recognizes projects completed between Jan. 1, 2020 and Sept. 16, 2022.

Jurists judged nominations based on several criteria, including innovation, stakeholder engagement, quality of execution, comprehensiveness, vibrancy, contextual response and sustainability.

Nominations came in from 10 of 12 Niagara municipalities and of the submissions, two-thirds were public sector, and one-third private sector projects.