Due to overwhelming interest in the Missing Middle Infill Design Competition, the registration deadline has been extended to February 22.
Launched in 2016, the Edmonton Infill Design Competition provides an opportunity to encourage productive conversations about infill, help the public and development community envision what’s possible for infill design, and inspire builders and architects to create out of the box designs that enrich the city. The competition’s overarching goal is to showcase improved aesthetics of the community and how good designs can bring neighbours together. The 2016 competition sought ideas for low-density residential infill on a hypothetical site, showing how infill could add to the character of mature and established neighbourhoods.
This year, the Infill Design Competition turns its gaze on demonstrating how medium-density housing can be both economically-feasible and well designed to work in Edmonton. This type of medium scale housing, which falls between single family homes and highrises, is commonly referred to as the ‘missing middle’ because it has been largely absent from urban streetscapes across Canada, including Edmonton.
The competition represents an opportunity to increase the city’s housing choices, particularly how we can integrate infill housing in the ‘missing middle’ range. As the initiative advances, what will be most interesting is the relationships that form between builders, developers and architects, and the proposals they come up with together, pushing the envelope for design and building creativity.
Edmonton’s unprecedented design competition seeks to turn ideas into action
Endorsed by The Alberta Association of Architects, the 2019 ‘Missing Middle’ Infill Design Competition features five City of Edmonton owned parcels of land up for redevelopment at the northeast corner of 112 Avenue and 106 Street in the Spruce Avenue neighbourhood. The City of Edmonton is soliciting proposals from multidisciplinary teams of architects and builders/developers from across Canada and abroad to design a multi-unit, medium-density, or ‘missing middle’, housing development on these lots. The challenge is to submit an innovative design that is not only thoughtful of neighbourhood context, but also economically feasible, responds to local market conditions and advances the design ethic for infill in Edmonton.
The winning team will be given the opportunity to purchase the site and build their winning design, conditional upon rezoning approval. The finished development will be used to inspire innovative ‘missing middle’ infill development in other parts of the city.
Full rules and regulations can be found at edmontoninfilldesign.ca. The competition is part of Edmonton Infill Roadmap 2018’s “Action 5: Partner to pilot innovative housing.”