Fotenn & Partners Win Award for Planning Excellence from the Canadian Institute of Planners
June 7, 2016
Fotenn, together with Windmill Development Group and Perkins+Will, has been recognized with an Award for Planning Excellence in the Neighbourhood Planning category for the Master Plan for Zibi (the Domtar Lands Redevelopment). The Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) Neighbourhood Planning Award recognizes “examples of neighbourhood-level land use plans, and specific neighbourhood-based planning processes that address the issues of housing, economic development, brown field redevelopment, city centre revitalization, and heritage planning.”
The Plan is described by the Awards Jury as “an excellent example for the planning profession of neighbourhood planning that inspirationally integrates land use planning, place making, urban design, First Nations engagement & recognition, adaptive heritage reuse, and brownfield redevelopment through a sustainability lens at the local level.”
The Project Team includes Fotenn, Perkins+Will, DSEL, Parsons, and PFS Studio working on behalf of Windmill Development Group and Dream Unlimited Corporation. Also acknowledged is the valuable role of the cities in Ottawa and Gatineau played in the development of the Master Plan.
About Zibi
Zibi casts a vision for infill redevelopment, taking a step beyond simply creating an urban neighbourhood, and choosing instead to redefine a district by creating a world-class, sustainable, mixed-use community in the heart of Canada’s Capital Region.
This mixed-use community is proposed on lands located in two provinces, within two municipalities, along the banks of the Ottawa River. Zibi will reintroduce residents of Ottawa-Gatineau to their capital, extending the downtown fabric in Gatineau and creating a vibrant waterfront along the banks of the Chaudière and Albert Islands in Ottawa.
The community will feature a mix of housing types and tenures, including condominiums, apartments, and townhouses. Mixed-use buildings featuring a range of commercial space options, coupled with outdoor and cultural spaces will ensure that visitors and residents can work and play in proximity to their homes. Affordable housing units will be mixed with market rate rental and condominium units to create an accessible community for all.
Zibi is also the redevelopment of a substantial brownfield site. Used as an industrial operation for the past 200 years, the lands are heavily contaminated and the redevelopment includes an extensive remediation program to remove this legacy. The redevelopment will also include the preservation and adaptive reuse of heritage industrial buildings on the site. The Plan envisions the adapted reuse of many structures, utilizing the spaces for commercial, office, community or cultural uses. The maintenance of the historical buildings will contribute to the character of the community and will help to tell the story of the site.
The Plan is also focused on utilizing the Ottawa and Gatineau’s active and rapid transit networks. The Master Plan envisions significant upgrades to the surrounding pedestrian and cycling infrastructure and prioritizes active transportation throughout the entire development. Improved connections to rapid transit services in both provinces are highlighted by an open space network that includes a series of parks and plazas connected by woonerfs. Each space has been designed to create a unique destination, contribute to wayfinding and place-making, and to all become social gathering places and focal points throughout the neighbourhood.
This major city-building project will change the face of the Capital Region and will act as a model for urban renewal for years to come.
Read the full Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) news release here.