| This document summarizes the design theory and design process that informed the development of a conceptual site plan for the St. Norbert Art Centre located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This Master's Degree Project is an environmental design project which is primarily influenced by environmental design theory and approaches as taught in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary. This project is also influenced by the ecological and integrated design approaches and draws upon various examples of the ecovillage model for inspiration. This project is about exploring how the ideas of sustainable living and intentional communities might shape the physical reality of a particular site over the coming years. The community members who steward the St. Norbert Art Centre, located in a heritage building adjacent to the Trappist Monastery Provincial Park, provided input regarding the strategic direction of the Centre through a facilitated discussion which focused on the Centre's goal, purposes, and objectives. A detailed context analysis at both regional and site scales revealed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with respect to the objective of sustainable living. Mind mapping was also used as a tool to explore the interconnections between and amongst the technological and ecological aspects of the site. These tools, together with the input from the site stewards, informed the design goals and the final conceptual site plan and recommendations.;Key Words: site planning, ecological, integrated, design, ecovillage, sustainable living, intentional community, conservation, regeneration, stewardship... |
