youCUBE
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Category: Recent Works
Project Owner: Green Seed Development Corporation
Architect/Interior Designer/Landscape Architect of Record: 5468796 Architecture Inc.
Structural Consultant: Lavergne Draward & Associates Inc.
Mechanical Consultant: G.D. Stasynec & Associates Inc.
Electrical Consultant: Woods Engineering
Contractor: Green Seed Development Corporation
Additional Consultants: Photographer: James Brittain Photography

The Project | Jury Comments

The scheme is to be commended for its innovations in multi-unit housing, a building typology that has for too long cleaved to an unimaginative and predictable model. The jury appreciates the efforts made to give each unit a sense of uniqueness and privacy through an individual front door, the provision of private indoor and outdoor spaces, and the attempt to engender community through the central raised plaza/circulation spine that links all units. However, serious reservations were expressed regarding the weaknesses in the development's street edge and how it meets the ground, with concerns about potential negative effects on the neighbourhood resulting from the building's internal configuration. Security issues were identified in the open parking garage, as well as in the various nooks and crannies present among the buildings' complex geometries, which have the potential to become hotspots for illicit activity. Lastly, universal accessibility does not seem to have been adequately considered.