SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Somba K'e civic plaza received national recognition from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects last month.
Kayhan Nadji: Said it was a group effort that pulled together Somba K'e Civic Plaza. |
The award recognizes the uniqueness of the project in the region, said designer and principal architect of Nadji Architects Kayhan Nadji.
"In the summer, we worked on this project as a big team under Lombard North Group," said Nadji.
Work started on Somba K'e Civic plaza in 2007 with a price tag of $2 million.
"It had been going through public consultation since 2005," said Nadji. "It was discussed with the public many times because we were trying to bring what the public wanted to the design."
The award, given out annually by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, was a regional award for the design of the plaza.
This award was given out based on different factors, said Nadji. The group had to demonstrate a deep understanding of the craft of landscape architecture, there had to be examples of excellence in leadership and new concepts used in the design and implementation of the design, it had to be a new concept and there had to be promotion and communication both with the city and the public.
"This is the first time we have this kind of project, especially in Yellowknife," said Nadji.
The overall project was no slight task, with construction limited to the summer months and pauses in work to take into account nesting migratory birds along the waterfront.
"We worked on this project as a big team. The main landscape architect was Lombard North Group, they were the main landscape architects, engineering was Williams Engineering, the contractors were Arctic Farmer Landscaping and Arctic Canada Construction, they were very involved to get the whole facility up and running," said Nadji.
"Also the City of Yellowknife management group, including Grant White, the director of community services, and the United in Celebration Sculpture by Francois Thibault, these are all groups that put the project together and gave us this public space for everyone," said Nadji.
Nadji said when they were designing the plaza they had to take into account a lot of different factors, such as what was already there and what could be moved, if need be.
"We had to create lake access and preserve the shoreline. That had to be maintained. We couldn't block it and there had to be a creation of areas for ceremonial presentations, so we have a natural amphitheater with some fixed seating," said Nadji.
"We obviously had to design something that all works together, with civic buildings and to maintain the function of the roads. This had to be in the design, existing around the totem pole and elements that are part of the city plaza. We also had to relocate the Fireweed (Studio) building and make sure it didn't break. We didn't want to lose or ignore the existing structures, but make them part of the design."
