Mayor's Urban Design Awards

This category is for a plan or a study of an area within Calgary that provides a strategy for urban transformation. It is intended for unbuilt work and is not dependent on implementation status. Visionary urban design studies, master plans, redevelopment strategies and community plans of high ambition and inspirational value may be submitted. 

Eligibility:

The plan or study must have been completed after Jan. 1, 2018.

Award criteria:

• Employs a wholistic, systemic approach to city-building
  
• Demonstrates critical thinking and strategic foresight to address current and future challenges
• Reflects the city that Calgary aspires to be - inclusive, diverse, equitable, adaptable and resilient
• Clearly describes and illustrates design concepts 

This category recognizes a plan or a study of an area within Calgary that provides a development or redevelopment strategy for urban transformation. It is intended for work that has some certainty of implementation within a mid-term to long-term timeframe. Urban Design studies, master plans, redevelopment strategies, and community plans of high inspirational value with the potential for significant impact on the city’s sustainability or development may be submitted.

Eligibility:

The plan or study must have been completed after Jan. 1, 2018, within Calgary. 

Award criteria:

• Addresses a wide a range of factors affecting development
  
• Highlights new ideas and/or approaches to interventions in the city
• Addresses Calgarians’ shared priorities and vision around inclusivity, diversity, equity, climate, and resilience 
  
• Design rationale should be clearly described and well-illustrated. 
  

This category recognizes a building or group of buildings that contribute to, and support, an urban design initiative. The submission 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 neighbouring urban fabric. Interior spaces can be included if they have a strong relationship to/influence on the public realm and meet the criteria.  

Eligibility:

A new building, a renovated building, or complex of buildings completed after Jan. 1, 2018, within Calgary and designed by a registered architect. Special consideration will be given to buildings that also achieve, or can achieve, a green building rating (such as LEED^® or BREEAM). This category is open only to registered architects. 

Award criteria:

• Positive contribution to the public realm 
• Architectural excellence 
  
• Demonstration of the value of urban design through their unique relationship with/influence on/creation of public realm
  
• Design rationale should be clearly described and well-illustrated 
  

This category recognizes a civic improvement project such as a park, a public space, civil engineering or infrastructure project. The design will reinforce the value of urban design through its unique relationship with and/or creation of innovative public realm which addresses inclusivity, sustainability, and engagement with community and context.  

Eligibility:

A construction project completed or installed after Jan. 1, 2018, within Calgary, and designed by a registered design professional (architects, engineers, registered planners, and landscape architects).  

Award criteria:

The primary criteria for assessing the merit of the plan will be: 

• Shows awareness of current City of Calgary objectives to respond to issues of equity, inclusivity, accessibility, and climate adaptation positive contribution to the public realm
• Design excellence
• Demonstration of the value of urban design and its ability to creatively address issues of inclusivity and sustainability while engaging with its context  

Urban fragments are single or multiple small-scale pieces of a building or landscape that contribute significantly to the quality of the public realm. This category includes elements such as street furniture, lighting elements, interpretation media, memorials, public art, or other forms of intervention that contribute to the beautification, sustainability, enjoyment, and/or appreciation of the urban environment. Projects can be of a temporary (but not ephemeral) or permanent nature.  

Eligibility:

Completed or installed after Jan. 1, 2018, within Calgary. 

Award criteria:

The primary criteria for assessing the proposals will be: 

• Positive contribution to the public realm
• Design excellence
• Innovation and uniqueness of the element
• Design rationale should be clearly described and well-illustrated. 

This category is for any built project or community improvement program, however modest, initiated and implemented by a community-based organization or partnership that enhances the public realm. Streetscaping, public art, commemorative or interpretive installations, and environmental initiatives are examples of this category. 

Eligibility:

The improvement must have been completed after Jan. 1, 2018, within Calgary.

Award criteria:

• Wide community involvement: Demonstration of how the community was involved and supported the improvements
• Positive contribution to the public realm 
• Innovation and uniqueness of the built project 
• Design rationale should be clearly described and well-illustrated 
• Reflects neighbourhood cultural and resident diversity 

This category is for a public space, building, or group of buildings that achieve urban design excellence and creativity through awareness of the Calgary context, particularly its history and culture. Submissions should demonstrate visionary city-building and aspire to be culturally and historically reflective and aesthetically significant.  

Eligibility:

All types of buildings and public spaces are eligible. This could be a landmark, background piece, new construction or a restoration/transformation. The project must have been completed after Jan. 1, 2018, within Calgary. 

Award criteria:

• Innovation in response to existing context, sensitive infill, and revitalization 
• Positive and enduring contribution to the public realm 
• Enhancement of community identity, history, and Calgary culture
• Demonstration of the influence of local context and culture on the design outcome
• Design excellence
• Design and contextual-fit rationale should be clearly described and well-illustrated 

This category is for site plans, studies, architecture, landscape designs and site elements that respond specifically to the challenges and opportunities presented on sites located in all recently developed and newly developing areas of Calgary.  

Eligibility:

The plan, study, or design must have been completed after Jan. 1, 2018, and be located or proposed within Calgary but outside the “Established Communities”; it may or may not yet have been implemented. All project types are eligible, including large and medium retail and multi-residential designs. 

Award criteria:

• Innovation in addressing challenges specific to sites in new and developing communities
• Demonstration of attention to issues of scale, animation, connectivity, accessibility, interface between public and private realm and other key urban design principles; in particular, evidence of place-making and prioritization of the pedestrian realm should be highlighted
• Presents new approaches to design and development in the new communities within Calgary 
• Demonstrates a commitment to sustainability and addresses social equity issues such as affordability and accessibility 
• Design rationale should be clearly described and well-illustrated 

This category recognizes projects that are boldly responding to the Climate Emergency through excellence in sustainable design that reduce energy and resource consumption of buildings, and improve occupant health and wellness, all while showcasing urban design excellence.  

Eligibility: 

Projects registered for, or certified by, a recognized green building standard or rating system are eligible. The project must have been completed after Jan. 1, 2018, within Calgary. 

Award criteria:

A wide range of criteria from the City of Calgary Sustainable Development Inventory will be considered, including:  

• Energy efficiency and measures to reduce operational GHG emissions 
• Efforts to reduce the project’s embodied carbon
• Design measures to improve occupant health and wellness
• Water efficiency and storm water management
• Design approaches that respond to the increasing risk of extreme weather
• Use of renewable energy technologies
• Design approach which highlights innovation in sustainable design
• Promoting alternative means of transportation (cycling, pedestrian experience, etc.) 
• Promotes positive public experience, contributes to the betterment of the surrounding community, and addresses social equity issues such as affordability and accessibility. 
• Design rationale should be clearly described and well-illustrated 

This category is for residential design projects, constructed or approved, of any size or scale, which demonstrate innovation in the areas of neighbourhood intensification, accessibility, affordability, “aging in place”, and promoting wellness through healthy living environments. Particularly, the award focuses on designs which contribute to providing creative solutions to the problem of housing affordability, providing improved livability for seniors, and providing simple, viable housing design options for those citizens facing mobility challenges.     

Eligibility:

A building or complex of buildings approved or completed construction after Jan. 1, 2018, within Calgary. 

Award criteria:

• Exhibits innovations which address one or more of the challenging design issues listed above
• Illustrates an awareness of and response to existing surrounding context 
• Contributes to the public realm in a positive way 
• Strives to achieve a healthy and high quality of life for its occupants through design innovation
• Supports social outcomes and/or community well-being through partnerships or collaboration  
• Design rationale should be clearly described and well-illustrated 

The Student Projects category will be administered through participating Canadian Universities, programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and/or urban planning. Students may submit for each of the following categories: 

• A submission from a structured Urban Design, Landscape, Architecture or Planning studio
• A submission as a result of a final project or an individual thesis

Eligibility:  

This category is open to students in urban design, architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning at the undergraduate or graduate level. Projects should investigate sites or be implementable on sites within Calgary. 

Award criteria:

• Comprehensiveness: Addressing a wide range of factors affecting development and providing solutions to the stated problem 
• Conceptual clarity and urban design excellence, as demonstrated in the illustrations showing physical improvements
• Design rationale should be clearly described and well-illustrated