DIALOG held its fourth Design Residency in memory of Tom Sutherland in February 2023.

Each year, we fund an annual design residency program in honour of Tom Sutherland, our former managing Principal who passed away in 2015. Tom was passionate about making a difference in our communities, helping establish this as a core value of our culture. He loved to create in a workshop environment and always led with talent, commitment, and ambition in support of finding the very best solutions for our community.

He believed in the importance of investing in young future leaders.

Nine talented and motivated students from seven schools across Canada and the U.S. gathered in DIALOG’s Calgary studio for Design Residency 2023. The students participated in a three-day workshop to explore the physical and social opportunities that exist within a gateway site to downtown Calgary, providing a safe, equitable, inclusive, and social environment.

Students were to establish a critical narrative and accompanying design intervention that explores the physical and social opportunities within a gateway site to downtown Calgary that exists at the intersection of corporate headquarters, residential new-urbanism, mass transit, arterial roadways, recreational pathways, bridge infrastructure, a river, and a social service institution.

How do these complex urban intersections divide space and people, and how can design reconnect them?

Located along the Bow River at the northeast gateway to downtown Calgary, this year’s chosen site is characterized by the complex intersection of various urban elements that divide space and people. The students visited the site and listened to Calgarians and the local community, providing context to their design process. The outcome of their week-long effort was a new vision of human wellbeing, sociability, and environmental restoration.

Participating students include Abigail McLaren, City of Planning, University of Manitoba; Adrian Hutchinson, Architecture, University of Waterloo; Danielle Soneff, Human Geography, University of Alberta; Deepali Dang, Planning, University of Calgary; Jordan Zacher, Public Health, University of Alberta; Marie Pudlas, Landscape Architecture, University of British Columbia; Nadia Perna, Graphic Design, Alberta University of the Arts; Sabina Alcock, Architecture, University of Calgary; and Clifford Vickrey, Advanced Architectural Design, University of California Berkeley.

To learn more about the Design Residency, watch the video below:

We would also like to recognize the judging panel, Catherine Hamel, Associate Professor, EDI Director, UCalgary; Kate Thompson, VP, Development, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation; Ximena Gonzalez, Architect, Journalist, Urban Affairs Writer at Globe and Mail; and DIALOG Chair Antonio Gómez-Palacio for their insightful questions and feedback.

To learn more about the students’ design process on what should become of the site, watch the final presentation here.