Award of Merit

Folly Forest
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Category: Landscape Architecture
Architect: Straub Thurmayr CSLA Landschaftsarchitekten and Urban Designers
Owner/Client: Winnipeg School Division / Strathcona School Winnipeg
Collaborators: Winnipeg School Division Engineering Manager and Contract Administrator, Mile Rendulic and Ron Kinash
Strathcona School Collaborators: Anastasia Sych-Yereniuk, Matthew Adkins and Lori Harder-Chochinov

The Project | Jury Comments

Through simple means and measures, the Folly Forest project brings a school and community together through the transformation of a mundane asphalt landscape into a dynamic play space and garden — all with a budget of $20 per square metre. Areas of the existing asphalt surface are cut away to allow nature to take root through an asymmetrically disposed composition of newly planted trees, benches, follies and earthen mounds. The program fosters playful engagement, through the eyes of a child, and provides any visitor, young or old, to engage with a truly delightful and special place.