Kelowna opens second round of infill design challenge

The City of Kelowna is looking for infill housing designs, and is offering a $10,000 award for the best design.

The Infill Design Challenge 2.0, which looks for new ideas to enhance affordable, diverse and inclusive housing, opened to the public Thursday.

The program is intended to bring together architects, designers and developers to introduce new forms of infill housing within the city’s core area, expand housing supply and diversity in new areas, and show how infill housing can be designed to meet community objectives and improve neighbourhoods.

The challenge is open to anyone, and entries can come from teams or individuals. Participants do not need to be from Kelowna, nor do they need to be registered professionals.

Submissions will be judged on five principles: diversity, affordability, creativity and context, resiliency, and inclusivity and liveability. Jurors will also consider where the proposals are feasible and broadly applicable for Kelowna’s Core Area.

The city has released a design brief with full competition details.

Also known as the ‘missing middle,’ infill are multi-unit housing projects that fill the gap between high-density multi-storey apartment buildings and low-density single-detached homes. They are referred to as missing because they are usually absent in cities across Canada, including Kelowna.

Proposals will be reviewed and judged in the fall of 2021, and the winners will be announced in either late fall or early winter.