CSLA Awards: Awards of Excellence - Ontario Region

The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Awards of Excellence are given for outstanding accomplishment in landscape architecture. Congratulations to the following OALA members whose projects received awards.

The recipient of the 2021 Jury’s Award of Excellence and a National Award is:

Project Name: Dale Hodges Park
Consultant: O2 Planning & Design and Source 2 Source Inc. with AECOM and Sans façon
for Watershed+
Contact: Matt Williams and Bernard Amell
Category: Large-Scale Public Landscapes
Project Description: Dale Hodges Park is a transformative landscape along the Bow River in Calgary. The project was born of the need to restore the environmental health of the area, while addressing stormwater treatment opportunities for runoff. Once a gravel quarry, the site is now a fully integrated 40-hectare park, stormwater treatment facility, and one of the largest public artworks in North America.

The 2021 National Award Recipients are:

Project Name: Accidental Wilderness: The Origins and Ecology of Toronto’s Tommy Thompson Park
Contact: Walter H. Kehm, with photos by Robert Burley
Category: Research
Project Description: Accidental Wilderness is a collection of essays curated by landscape architect and original designer of Tommy Thompson Park, Walter H. Kehm, complemented by a collection of photographs by renowned landscape photographer Robert Burley. The book documents the entire planning process for the park, including the park’s master plan principles and design; the native-plant succession process; the park’s unique flora and fauna; public advocacy; and public recreation in the park and its effect on health.

Project Name: Gordonridge Community Multi-Sport Court
Consultant: ERA Architects Inc.
Contact: Rui Felix
Category: Residential Landscapes
Project Description: A community-led project located at the heart of a Toronto Community Housing campus. Led by ERA Architects as landscape architect, this dynamic project organizes play for all ages and abilities in an integrated landscape, at the centre of a post-war apartment tower community at Danforth Road and Midland Avenue in Toronto’s Scarborough area. The project was funded by Toronto Community Housing, MLSE Foundation, and Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities.

Project Name: University of Guelph Child Care and Learning Centre
Consultant: Earthscape Play Inc.
Contact: Dan Van Haastrecht
Category: Small-Scale Public Landscapes
Project Description: The playscape at the University of Guelph Child Care and Learning Centre (CCLC), completed in 2019, sets an aspirational standard for children’s outdoor spaces in Canada. Reflecting the latest research on child development and the importance of restorative nature connections, the design presents young children with opportunities to play and learn in explorative ways. The design was developed by landscape architects and designers at Earthscape Play, in close collaboration with the CCLC educators and administrators.

Project Name: Saugeen First Nation Creator’s Garden and Ampitheatre Restoration Master Plan
Consultant: Brook McIlroy Inc.
Contact: Andrea Mantin
Category: Planning and Analysis
Project Description: The Saugeen First Nation Amphitheatre and Creator’s Garden Master Plan is a co-design between community members and the design team at Brook Mcllroy—a team led by landscape architects in collaboration with Indigenous architects and designers. The project will strengthen the community’s long-term economic viability, while supporting the recovery of land-based knowledge known to Indigenous Peoples for millennia. The master plan serves as a model of how landscape architecture can partner with Indigenous communities.

Project Name: Uptown Brampton Transit-Oriented Communities Toolkit
Consultant:  Yvonne Yeung, Ken Greenberg, and Matti Siemiatycki for City of Brampton and Urban Land Institute Toronto District Council
Contact:Yvonne Yeung
Category: Planning and Analysis
Project Description: Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) expand healthy, convenient, high-quality living along transit networks, creating a new form of “Regional City,” and an affordable landing ground for new families to meet GTHA’s unprecedented population growth. The Uptown Brampton Transit-Oriented Communities Toolkit explores a collaborative city-building model to empower effective collaboration and alignment among public sector, private sector, non-profit, and local communities. The Toolkit aims to shift development culture and accelerate implementation by amplifying synergies, creating new combined benefits, and fostering lateral thinking.

Project Name: Memoirs of Pioneering Landscape Architects of Quebec and Ontario
Consultant: EVOQ Landscape Architecture (formerly Arcadia Studio)
Contact: Isabelle Giasson
Category: Communication
Project Description: This video documentary series presents the personal, professional, and academic memoirs of eight individuals who pioneered the discipline of landscape architecture in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. Their trail-blazing careers indelibly influenced future generations of landscape architects, while moulding our landscapes and cities. Through interviews with these pioneers, the project gathers oral “snapshots” of previously undocumented memories. These recordings are available to general and professional audiences, promoting landscape architecture’s history and vitality as a design discipline.