By Carleen Bartel, P.Eng., Catterall & Wright Consulting Engineers
SK Design Week was held September 23-29, 2017 with events in both Saskatoon and Regina.
The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is one of Canada’s leading providers of applied research, development and demonstration (RD&D) and technology commercialization. With more than 350 employees, over $70 million in annual revenue and 70 years of RD&D experience, SRC provides products and services to its 1,500 clients in 20 countries around the world.
The events were organized by the Saskatchewan Design Council, the collective voice of six provincial associations representing design professionals working in architecture, engineering, geoscience, graphic design, interior design, landscape architecture and planning. The council’s mandate is to promote public awareness of great design completed by members of our local professional associations and to provide educational opportunities to the public.
We had a great lineup of speakers including: Omar Gandhi, recognized as one of the world’s top 20 young architects by Wallpaper magazine; Jason Kasper, founder and principal of IDEATE Design Consulting; and Robin Mazumder, a Vanier Scholar and doctoral candidate in cognitive neuroscience, studying the psychological impacts of urban design. In addition to speakers, there was a movie night on graphic design and two lunch-and-learns with tours of Saskatoon Makerspace and the Canadian Light Source Synchrotron.
The week finished with an awards reception celebrating the work of Saskatchewan designers at the Premier’s Awards of Excellence in Design. There were categories for each professional association and an integrated category for projects involving three or more disciplines, and a People’s Choice award. A jury of one representative from each member association as well as invited guest jury members from the Speaker Series evaluated entries.
Engineering and Geoscience category winners included:
Awards of Excellence
Wilson’s Lifestyle Centre Retail Building
Firm/Designer: ISL Engineering and Land Services
Mosaic Stadium at Evraz Place
Firm/Designer: JC Kenyon Engineering
Award of Merit
Firm/Designer: Catterall & Wright
Project: Osler Multi-Purpose Storm Pond and Soccer Facility
The integrated category included professional engineers working with other organizations:
Awards of Excellence
Project: LutherCare Village
Award of Merit
Firm/Designer: Oxbow Architecture, JC Kenyon Engineering, Daniels Wingerak Engineering, Catterall & Wright, Ritenburg and Associates, and D-Code Engineering
Project: Health + Light: Avenue P Medical Office Building
Honourable Mention
Firm/Designer: Group2 Architecture Interior Design Ltd., Crosby Hanna & Associates, Entuitive, ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd.
Project: Saskatchewan Joint-Use Schools Project Technical Advisory Services
The People’s Choice winning submission was the Health + Light: Avenue P Medical Office Building which included a Saskatoon architecture firm along with Professional Engineers from five Saskatchewan firms: Oxbow Architecture, JC Kenyon Engineering, Daniels Wingerak Engineering, Catterall & Wright, Ritenburg and Associates, and D-Code Engineering.
The next Design Week will be held in 2019. Be sure to submit entries for the prestigious Premier’s Awards of Excellence in Design.