Discipline : Landscape & Territories
: Award of the year
Categories :
Landscape Architecture / Landscape Architecture - Rural Areas
: Grand Winner
Categories :
Landscape Architecture / Landscape Architecture - Public Space
: Gold certification
Categories :
Special Awards / Landscape - Wood
: Grand Winner
Categories :
Special Awards / Landscape + Art Integration
: Gold certification
Located in the subarctic town of Kawawachikamach, QC (1150km North of Montreal), the Naskapi Community Boardwalk is a multi-phase project providing a community of 1,050 with an accessible boardwalk along the undulating shores of Lake Matemace and Peter Lake. The first 400m phase (2024) creates an accessible path along shores. Phases 2 and 3 will complete the 2km route, with future trails connecting to the Cultural Site, 5km south.
Meaningful and humble, the Community Boardwalk reconnects the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach to their land and their lakes, ‘a place that reminds us of who we are, where we come from, and where we are headed.’1 The project addresses community needs to promote well-being and healthy living through a safe, serene and fully accessible relationship with the water. The gentle meander of the path recreates a contemplative walk in nature, inspired by desire lines and the natural and fragile beauty of the site.
Significant cultural references were brought into the project: caribou sculptures honoring herds that once traversed this territory, and a storytelling mural reflecting community values through iconic animals, significant features of the territory, and references to the nation’s history. The project echoes the material palette of its context from Tamarack lumber to stones from nearby Naskapi quarries, embracing the principle of "local materials". More than a boardwalk, this is a safe space to share values, a platform for education and community health. ‘This is a vision that holds promise and pride for our people, honoring the land and reflecting the cultural value we cherish.’ 2
Without knowing the exact amplitude of the project or the complexity of working in the North, the design team was committed to the community’s aspirations and honoring their members and land. This attitude was a guiding light from day one. The boardwalk was realized through the strengths that are the hallmarks of our practice: reading the landscape and revealing its hidden gems, blurring boundaries between design and art, placemaking through spatial arrangement, prioritizing the pedestrian experience, connecting the community to their natural settings, promoting education and well-being. Simple in appearance, the project was complex in execution—requiring the landscape architects to take on an unusually active project management role; coordinating remote logistics like train and plane deliveries, and carefully managing a constrained budget amid the high costs of northern construction, transportation, and labor.
The simplicity of the project allows the beauty of their land to speak for itself, without any need for artifice; revealing what was already there. The Naskapi are people of few words, and this project is an example of the power of listening, shedding habits and assumptions, reading the landscape, guiding action, and delivering a project tailored to a community.
[1] [2] Louise Nattawappio, Chief of the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach
