Waterfront development wins architectural award

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/05/2021 (1941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The most recent construction project to break ground on Waterfront Drive, the 200-suite residential project at 90 Alexander Ave., will start its life with an architectural award to its credit.

Construction is now underway on the property — which is incorporating the existing heritage building known as the Great West Metal Co. Building — with a tentative completion date near the end of 2022 or early 2023, the designers of the building, 5468796 Architecture, received the Award of Merit by Canadian Architect magazine.

The prolific Winnipeg firm has won the award several times in the past and it is the fourth building in the East Exchange/Waterfront Drive district that the firm provided the architectural work on.

Among other notable elements of the design, much of the building will wrap around the four-storey Great West Metal building which will be redeveloped to take up about 30 of the 200 rental units that are being built. The units will range in price from $1,200 to $2,200 per month.

Alkarim Devani, CEO of the Calgary development company RNDSQR (pronounced Round Square) responsible for the project, said the award is a real bonus.

“When you can merge urban design with human scale architecture and find a way to deliver on those things it’s great,” he said. “It is a shame when we see great projects that never come to fruition because of execution or cumbersome, expensive design. Striking the balance is really important.”

The building is going up on one of the last remaining lots on Waterfront Drive that started development about 20 years ago.

Johanna Hurme, one of the partners of 5468796 Architecture, said the heritage building was always considered the jewel of the development.

She said while the new construction will wrap around the heritage building, it will still be glimpsed from Waterfront Drive through porous openings on the street level.

The grey corrugated facade is an interlocking custom fabricated metal system.

“The interlocking is intended to mimic the interlocking of the brick pattern of the historic building,” Hurme said. “The idea is that it stands in contrast and is a backdrop to the yellow brick of the heritage building.”

Devani said the building aims to activate that end of Waterfront Drive and will include a 6,700-square-foot commercial space on the main floor for local businesses and coffee shops along Waterfront Drive.

“It’s going to bring people and vibrancy to the area which will be so important when we look ahead to the post-pandemic world where we are struggling to get all the people back to downtown that used to be here,” said Hurme.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca