Award of Excellence

2nd Avenue Lofts
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Category: Interior Design
Architect: Dub Architects Ltd.
Owner/Client: 101051911 Saskatchewan Ltd.
Structural Engineer: Prakash Consulting Ltd.
Mechanical Engineer: Implicit Engineering Ltd.
Electrical Engineer: Implicit Engineering Ltd.
Contractor: 101051911 Saskatchewan Ltd.

The Project

2nd Avenue Lofts addresses three important architectural issues of the coming decades: the sustainable adaptation of buildings built in Canada during the booming sixties and seventies; the residential revitalization of the central cores of our cities; and the need for an alternative housing form for young adults on modest incomes.

Housed in the former Hudson Bay building in Saskatoon, 2nd Avenue Lofts transforms the abandoned department store into 130 2-storey lofts and streetfront retail uses. A skylight cut into the centre of the building brings natural light down into amenity rooms and the atrium. Limestone and brick removed for new windows was reused, and concrete removed for the atrium and basement ramp was recycled. From a sustainability perspective, almost the entire 1960's building was retained.