Best infill building designs for Global Awards shortlisted
MELBOURNE: The shortlist for the best infill building design has been declared.
Over 121 designs have been considered by the awards secretariat. One of the finalists in this category is shown above.
Genius. This new design competition by the City of Edmonton was a stroke of genius.
Twenty-five pitches for new, medium-density projects in Edmonton’s mature neighbourhoods — all vetted for technical and financial viability — are now online and they range from brilliant to the truly appalling.
With concrete examples of what developers want to build, city council should now know exactly what its new rules should allow and, just as important, what it should be banning completely.
One design is so tone deaf it doesn’t even show the poor neighbours in the rendering, as if trying to trick the jury into thinking a four-storey wall along the entire south edge of an existing homeowner’s yard is a good idea.
No. It’s a terrible idea. That architect can head back to the sketch pad. Massive, sun-blocking walls have no place in the middle of Edmonton’s residential neighbourhoods.
City council wants to create opportunities for affordable homes in quiet, residential neighbourhoods. But it has to do that without losing those friendly, welcoming aspects of the neighbourhood residents love best.
That won’t be easy, but this competition shows it’s possible.
The Global Award winner will be announced in September in London. (Globals)
