The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) has honoured the Bank of Canada with a 2020 National Award of Excellence in the Small-Scale Landscapes category.
Designed in collaboration with lead landscape architects DTAH, our team worked with the Bank of Canada, planning authorities, and preservationists to leverage the complex’s unique heritage, landscape, and architecture originally designed by Arthur Erickson.
The transformation provided an exciting opportunity to augment the public realm around the Bank at a significant location in the parliamentary district.
The Plaza
Inspired by Erickson’s own fascination with the Canadian landscape, the east plaza forms an abstraction of the Nation’s landscape through a set of abstracted elements that integrate architecture and landscape to shape a new space as the foreground for Erickson’s mirrored towers.
The three raked landforms integrate the Bank’s museum entry and skylight, existing mechanical infrastructure, and underground exiting requirements while providing casual amphitheater seating and a sheltered microclimate for use throughout the year.
Two vertical light elements create landmarks for the plaza while providing secure, high-level ventilation for the building. A gently sloping plaza surface connects with the corner of Bank and Wellington streets to open sight lines from the museum and plaza towards the Parliament Buildings.
The new plaza animates the downtown landscape, enhances the perimeter streetscapes, and functions as an accessible public amenity and gathering space year-round.
For more information, visit the CSLA website.
