Michael Zabinski, Designer
Regenerating Rossdale envisions a destination of climatic comfort that begins to address the current disconnect between Edmontonians and their northern climate. The heart of the project is an adaptive reuse of the city’s iconic Rossdale Power Plant on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. By linking the facility to the downtown core with an urban gondola, recommissioning it as a geothermal generation facility and then utilizing its waste heat to fill a series of thermal baths, Edmontonians are brought to the very edge of winter. The thermal baths take hibernation from the cold and make it transparent, social, and celebratory.
Image: Michael Zabinski
Image: Michael Zabinski
Image: Michael Zabinski
Image: Michael Zabinski
Image: Michael Zabinski
"The project considers many layers of urban design and the relationship between architectural elements and the surrounding landscape. The conceptual development of the project as an integral part of the landscape is methodical, and the architectural components are well developed. The repurposing of the smoke stack as a symbolic and functional connection to a natural landscape is a thought-provoking reclamation of an artifact of a previously polluting industry. It is a powerful statement of urban renewal."