Over the past two decades, Winnipeg has gone through a cultural and commercial renaissance, with residents returning to live and work in the urban core, and a revaluation of the city?s historic Exchange District. As a result, a number of high-profile projects are in design or underway downtown.
Here, as in other cities, firms from outside the city are often taking the lead role, as in the redevelopment of the Market Lands by Daoust Lestage, the Winnipeg Art Gallery?s Inuit Art Centre addition by Michael Maltzan with Cibinel, and True North Square by Perkins+Will with Architecture49. It?s a trend that is a challenge for local firms. ?Clients are more often looking for firms to have a significant number of very similar buildings in their portfolio, which often means partnering with a firm that specializes in each building type. This is even beginning to creep into smaller, less specialized projects,? says Brent Bellamy of Number TEN Architectural Group. ?The opportunity for a local architect to design a significant project in their own city is diminishing.? Aerial view of the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit Art Centre, designed by Michael Maltzan Architecture (Design Architect) with Cibinel Architecture (Local Architect)
On the other hand, an approach centred on Winnipeg firms prevails at the Railside at The Forks residential development. Previously a surface parking lot, the twelve-acre property sits between the central train station and the Museum for Human Rights. The d...