Niagara Falls power station, St. Catharines rowing centre take top architectural design awards
Published January 20, 2023 at 4:00 pm
The Niagara Parks Power Station and the Neil Campbell Rowing Centre in St. Catharines were the big winners when the Niagara Biennial Design Awards were announced on Jan. 17.
This was the first in-person ceremony, which honours excellence design and architecture, since the awards, which started in 2020, are only held every two years. In the first year, COVID-19 restrictions prohibited a live ceremony.
The awards were open to owners, developers, architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, engineers, interior designers, artists and students involved with a specific design project in Niagara.
Both the Niagara Parks Power Station and the Neil Campbell Rowing Centre won the grand prize honours. The Power Station was an enormous project that took a decommissioned hydro-electricity plant that was over 100 years old and turned it into a new tourist attraction for Niagara Falls by refurbishing it into an interactive, educational, family-friendly structure.
The Neil Campbell Rowing Centre, built for the 2022 Canada Summer Games in Niagara Region, was created as an essential off-water training and support facilities for the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course in Port Dalhousie. The modern facility was built in an effort to ensure that Niagara remains a leading destination for rowing and to support the continued development of the region’s many rowers.
A total of 11 award-winners were selected from 35 submissions, and represent the quality and diversity of design of the built environment in Niagara in five design categories. Award winning submissions were chosen by a panel of design professionals.
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The winners recognized at the awards were as follows:
Grand Prize Winners
- Niagara Parks Power Station, Niagara Parks Commission
- Neil Campbell Rowing Centre, City of St. Catharines and Henley Rowing Corporation
Outstanding Achievement Winners
Architecture Category
- Walker Sport and Abilities Centre, Brock University, City of St. Catharines, City of Thorold, Niagara Region
- Spirit in Niagara Small Batch Distillery, Spirit in Niagara Distillery Corp.
- Student Commons, Niagara College
Landscape Architecture Category
- Rotary Park, Town of Lincoln
- Bridge Street Roundabout, Niagara Region
- The Gardens at Pillar and Post Inn, Lais Hotel Properties Inc.
Outdoor Art Category
- Poppy Project, Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum
- Downtown Bench Alley, Downtown Bench Beamsville BIA
Visionary Design Category
- Port Robinson Ecological Park Conceptual Master Plan, City of Thorold
The Neil Campbell Rowing Centre was built for the 2022 Canada Summer Games in Niagara Region.