Canadian Plaza at the Peace Bridge

NORR was awarded the design of the Canadian Customs and Immigration Agency’s Redevelopment of the Peace Bridge Plaza and Border Crossing. The landmark Peace Bridge Authority’s project design reflects “a new Canadian image of confidence and sophistication”, while paying homage to regional history. The design makes strong reference to the historic stone construction of the local buildings, historical fortress and archeological artifacts discovered in the area. It was also inspired by the native long house shelter and the native canoe, which was one of the earliest forms of transportation used to cross the Niagara River.
The curving wood roof of the central Customs and Immigration Building creates an embracing space that is materially warm and friendly, making the adjacent vehicle
inspection area atmosphere less intimidating. A central skylight runs the full length of the roof, bringing natural light deep into the two-storey building. The relatively solid stone masses of the Administration and Refugee Processing buildings and the use of stone traffic barriers were selected to blur the distinction between site and structure.
:::: AWARDS:
2005 - Ontario Concrete Awards, Precast Concrete Structural Design Innovation Award;
2007 - Canadian Wood Council, Wood Design Awards, Merit Award ;
2007 - Canadian Wood Council, WoodWork Award, Institutional Wood Design Award;
2007 - Ontario Public Works Association, Project of the Year Award in Transportation greater than $10 million;
2008 - Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC), Ontario Steel Design Award, Award of Merit, Architectural Category;
2008 - 20 + 10+ X World Architecture (WA) Community Awards, 2nd Cycle, Citation by Honourary Members;
2009 - AIA’s Academy of Architecture for Justice Knowledge Community Justice Facility Review, Citation;
2010 - Ontario Association of Architects (OAA), Design Excellence

Canadian Plaza at the Peace Bridge by NORR Architects and Engineers in Canada won the WA Award Cycle 2. Please find below the WA Award poster for this project.