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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - An architect at Nadji Architects has received a National Urban Design Award for a garden project he helped design at McGill University in Montreal.

Gaurav Sharma, 28, came to Yellowknife following completion of his master's degree, in which his studies focused on creating affordable housing with limited money, resources and land.

Gaurav Sharma: Architect won design award for Montreal project.

"I had an opportunity during the course to study about Northern people in Canada," said Sharma.

"There is a problem of limited resources here. I thought initially it is the best place to be and to show what I have learned during my master's."

In 2007 he was involved in the Minimum Cost Housing Group of McGill University's School of Architecture.

"We had to design an urban fragment that makes change in the life of people," said Sharma.

The group selected an unused concrete corner on the campus of McGill University in which to set up planter boxes containing a variety of vegetables, creating an urban garden.

They designed planter boxes that included sections for water and soil. The low-maintenance garden was up-kept by group members and several volunteers.

It cost $5,000 to build 60 planter boxes in the 1,000 square feet area and $40,000 in 3,000 donated volunteer hours.

Sharma said the group's original goal was to highlight the environmental and economical benefits.

The garden's social, recreational and health-related benefits also surprised them.

"It became the best place to date around the university," said Sharma.

The "edible campus" project won the 2008 National Urban Design Award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Canadian Institute of Planners and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects.

"It was done for an awareness," said Sharma.

"There is a problem with food everywhere these days. You have to depend on agricultural lands that are outside of urban areas. We called it edible landscape."

Sharma grew up in the Punjab region of India. He completed his architecture degree in 2002 and recently earned a master's degree at McGill.

He said his career choice was natural as his father was an architect and his grandfather a sculptor. He has worked in Dubai, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The Minimum Cost Housing Group was recently granted another zone at McGill, expanding the garden to 2,500 square feet. Next year they hope to expand to 5,000 square feet.

Sharma said he would like people in Yellowknife to use urban gardening ideas here.

"In the North we are too dependent on the south," said Sharma.

"It is a good thing to be self-sustaining. It can start with small efforts. You can make a big change with small efforts."