VTLA was the landscape architect on a multi-disciplinary national competition team to redesign the OAA headquarters landscape to reflect design innovation, promote environmental sustainability, and encourage active community participation. Out of 19 competition entries, our design received one of three honourable mentions.

Our scheme: Landscape Reconnect resets our relationship with the precious resource of water; creating opportunities for celebration, responsible water stewardship, and a guide for stewardship practice that nurtures the land. The proposal reconnects the building to the land by bringing the spirit of the neighbouring Waasayishkodenayosh (Don River) and ravine forest back into the landscape. This was achieved through a conspicuous stormwater management strategy that daylights the building’s roof runoff; slowing it down in a series of rain gardens –  interconnected by trench drains – with sufficient detention volume for roof runoff during a 100-year event (>45 m3). The rain gardens are shallow but expansive, acknowledging the site’s high water table, and densely planted with native species accustomed to flooding. A permeable paver parking lot stores the remainder of the site’s runoff that is slowly released through orifice-restricted underdrains at the pre-development rate. 

Wherever possible, impermeable surfaces were removed. Planting areas were extended and both the driveway and parking surfaces were replaced with highly permeable gravel held in place by a geogrid. This generosity of permeability permits site retention of 5 mm storms through infiltration and evapotranspiration. A forest planted using the Miyawaki Method and populated by native species evolves over time from an architectural grid of fast-growing poplars into a softer forest landscape. Existing unit pavers are recycled into a pedestrian path which prioritizes the experience of those arriving without a car.

Learn more about the OAA HQ Landscape Competition Brief and history of the OAA HQ site here.

All images by Make Good Projects with VTLA Studio.