5 firms vie to design Lansdowne Park green space

Five design teams are on a shortlist of firms competing to design the green spaceof a redevelopedLansdowne Park, Ottawa officials said in a statement Friday.

City council voted last November to start negotiating the terms of a private-public partnership with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group to redevelop Lansdowne Park.

The controversial development plan includes the construction of a cluster of shops, cinemas, condominiums and townhouses and the revamping of the site's existing stadium.

Two Ottawa-based architects Barry Hobin and Ritchard Brisbin have been chosen to lead the redesign. They will be in charge of the architectural style of the project, but the city hasn't finalized its plans for the park's green space.

The city received 21 applications from design firms interested in designing the front lawn area, but cityofficialswhittled the list down to five candidates:

• Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates of Cambridge, Mass.
• Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg of Vancouver.
• The SWA Group of Sausalito, Calif.
• West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture of Toronto.
• Williams, Asselin, Ackaoui & Associates of Montreal.

"This is another significant step in creating a revitalized Lansdowne that is open and inviting to residents and visitors alike, and that reaches out to its surrounding neighbourhoods and the Rideau Canal," Ottawa Mayor Larry OBrien said in a statement.

The five firms will meet with the city officials and representatives from the National Capital Commission next Wednesday and Thursday. Members of the public are invited to submit written comments, suggestions and ideasfor the design of the public space.

The firms will reveal their proposed designs at a public meeting in May. A seven-member jury will review the designs and the public's comments, and the city hopes to announce a winning design in June.

Lansdowne Park is a former agricultural fairground in the Glebe neighbourhood, just south of downtown Ottawa, where rows of shops are flanked by tree-lined streets of single-family homes. The property is bounded by Bank Street to the west and faces the Rideau Canal to the south.