ASAU named ‘Community Organization of the Year’ for work with Vanier

A group of architecture students and recent graduates is spending the summer building a place for community gathering and play in the Ottawa neighbourhood of Vanier. Spotted on the construction site on a recent afternoon, they were at work wearing yellow Action Lab t-shirts. Some were inspecting the concrete stumps that will serve as foundations for a stage and pergola structure. Others sorted piles of wood.

Faculty and students at the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism have worked with the Vanier community for years, exploring the potential of sites and proposing ambitious ideas for redevelopment.

In recognition of the long-standing partnership, the Vanier Community Service Centre (CSC Vanier) has named the school its 2024 Community Organization of the Year.

“This recognition highlights your team’s exceptional contribution to the Vanier community — particularly your involvement in our capital project and the transformative work at the Vanier Community Hub,” said Andrée-Anne Martel, the centre’s executive director.

She presented a trophy to Associate Professors Benjamin Gianni and Menna Agha at the organization’s annual meeting on May 13.

“Through your collaborative spirit, creative vision, and deep commitment to community development, you have helped us reimagine not only our physical spaces but also the impact we can have,” she said

“Your partnership has extended far beyond design — it has inspired hope, fostered connection, and brought to life a bold and inclusive vision for our future.”

The capital project to which Martel refers is a long-term plan for a new building for the Vanier Community Service Centre. Currently located in two buildings, the agency’s long-term vision is to bring all its services under one roof.

Work produced by students in the fourth-year housing studio, led by Gianni, has shaped a feasibility study by CSC Vanier. Gianni has also helped move the project forward by sharing his deep knowledge of the development industry and its players.

“Work that’s been done in the school on these sites over several years seems to be having some impact on the way various owners and agents are thinking about redeveloping land from Marier Ave. to Donald St. in Overbrook,” says Gianni.  “We have a 10-year history of working with the community.”

Over the years, the housing studio has looked at the potential residential development of multiple sites in Vanier, owned by developers and in the public realm. Students learn from developers and community organizations.

In 2023, Gianni expanded the program of the studio to include the preliminary design of a new community services centre, with housing as part of the complex.

Students produced concepts for the redevelopment of the Vanier Community Service Centre site at 270 Marier Ave. The organization envisions a new facility that accommodates their existing services, plus a daycare, several large meeting spaces, and market and affordable housing.

“It was a great opportunity for the students because in this current world, there is a lot of mixed-use stuff that goes on,” says Gianni.

Gianni says he and the students have helped define the program and scope and assess the development potential of land owned by the Vanier Community Service Centre. They also “created a whole series of images to show to the community to get them to rally around.”

Martel is deeply grateful for the guidance Gianni has provided. “I’ll send him a text, with like 24-hours notice, ‘hey, can you meet with this developer?’ And he will come to these meetings and provide so much guidance and expertise around our capital project.  He completely gets our project.”

Related to this is a master’s thesis, Releasing the Heart of Vanier: Creating Affordable Housing and Interconnected Public Spaces from Underutilized Public Assets, by alumnus Josh Eckert and supervised by Gianni.

“The thesis is operating as a kind of ‘big picture’ playbook for the redevelopments that the Vanier Community Service Centre and others are considering,” explains Gianni. 

In addition to comprehensive visions and residential developments, Carleton students — through the school’s Architecture Action Lab, directed by Associate Professor Menna Agha — are designing and building the Vanier HUB, an active-use outdoor space at the corner of Montreal Rd. and Marier Ave.

The site, a parking lot of 29 by 40 metres has been used for outdoor community events since 2019 but lacked permanent infrastructure. “Architecture is wrapping itself around what people do, not the other way around,” says Agha.

The two-year design and consultation process started in Dr. Agha’s third-year community engagement studio in 2023-24. “The project aims to transform the parking lot into a dynamic, inclusive, functional, and visually appealing space,” says the description on the Action Lab website.

Vanier is a disadvantaged neighbourhood, with one in four individuals in Vanier grappling with low income. It is home to a diverse demographic that includes Indigenous, Inuit, and new immigrant populations, adding to a historic Francophone community.

Part of the process was community consultation. “We conducted co-design workshops and community meetups with elders, youth, and families,” says Agha.

The design includes a children’s play space, a bicycle lending station, and support structures for community gathering, including a pergola.  A stage and fire pit will animate a range of cultural meetings and events. There will be spaces for outdoor cooking, a nine-metre-long table for sharing, and a variety of places for relaxation and socializing.

“This is homey, this is colourful, this is what the community wants,” says Agha. “They want nice warm spaces to be together, and they want solidarity spaces and safe spaces for their children.”

Construction started in May. The Action Lab has 12 people on the project, including Eckert, who wrote his thesis about Vanier and is a founding member of the Action Lab. An additional 30 volunteers have signed up.  The project is expected to finish in August.

Elyse Robertson, communications director for the Vanier Community Service Centre, along with Martel, recently visited the Action Lab at the Architecture Building. “We were truly amazed,” she said.

“The level of dedication from students and staff is remarkable,” said Robertson. “They’ve invested countless hours into the HUB project on top of their academic responsibilities. The feeling of belonging and engagement that we witnessed was like nothing Andrée-Anne or I have ever experienced in our university years.”