Castle Downs is one of five park pavilions recently constructed in Edmonton. Photo: Raymond Chow
Open design competitions can be game-changing for a young firm. But major architectural clients in Canada are reluctant to hold them, as they prefer procurement processes that control the end results more narrowly. Architects in English Canada often look with envy to Quebec, where provincial competitions have raised the quality of design and established a generation of innovative, award-winning studios. However, even the Quebec system has become burdened with pre-qualification requirements, and emerging firms struggle to compete for both public- and private-sector work against well-established practices.
Amongst these closed doors, there is at least one open threshold. In 2011, as part of its ambitious architectural overhaul, the City of Edmonton held a national design competition for five park pavilions. The competition, juried by Steve McFarlane, Janet Rosenberg and Pierre Thibault, drew 139 submissions from 95 architecture firms across the country, mainly less-established practices. The five winning schemes were by gh3 (Borden Park and Castle Downs District Park), the marc boutin architectural collaborative inc. (John Fry Sport Park), Dub Architects (Mill Woods Sport Park), and Rayleen Hill Architecture + Design (Victoria Park). The completed pavilions are now open. Each graces a major green space in the city. This includes older parks?like the recently revitalized Borden pa...