National Urban Design Awards - 2024 Recipient

One of Edmonton’s original five LRT stations, the 1970s Stadium Station no longer met the community’s evolving needs or the city’s long-term development goals. Extensive physical barriers, inward-facing and enclosed public areas, and grade-separated station access contributed to challenges in providing a safe and accessible experience.  

GEC Architecture (GEC)’s design transformed the transit infrastructure from a barrier between communities into something that stitches them together, instigating urban rejuvenation and vibrant redevelopment. 

The new station and its supporting infrastructure integrate into the public realm, serving as an armature to realize the Stadium Station Area Redevelopment Plan’s goals of creating a sustainable transit-oriented community. Key to this integration was creating a contiguous urban realm that flows around and through the station, yielding seamless connectivity and visual permeability. A central plaza, which is universally and visually accessible at grade from every direction, has become a meeting place for the community. 

Much of the original station remains intact as part of the new infrastructure, with the original underground concourse converted to back-of-house spaces and emergency egress routes. At the surface, the facility was converted from a grade-separated, centre-loaded platform to an at-grade, side-loaded station. Reconstruction of the station was achieved while maintaining continuous transit operations—a feat requiring exemplary interdisciplinary coordination. 

Before GEC’s design intervention, Stadium Station was one of the top three facilities in the city for police and enforcement calls; it is now among the top three safest facilities in the Edmonton system.