A lake community in Springbank has been dubbed Building Industry Land Development (BILD) Calgary Award’s 2021 Community of the Year for the Calgary region for the fifth time in a row since the neighbourhood was founded in 2016.
The annual BILD Awards seek to recognize the work of residential building industry leaders in sales, marketing, and community development.
The Harmony neighbourhood, located in west Rocky Vew County, was the result of a partnership between Bordeaux Developments and Qualico Communities. According to a Bordeaux Developments media release, both groups wanted to create an amenity-rich community for residents.
“The community is still in its early stages of development, but it already includes a stunning 40-acre fresh-water lake, with another 100-acre lake to come,” stated the press release, adding the community also features beaches, pathways, playgrounds, and an “Adventure Park.”
The neighbourhood is also home to the Mickelson National Golf Club and LaunchPad, and the future Village Centre, which is set to include a Nordic-style wellness spa by Groupe Nordik.
Laurel Campbell, marketing manager at Bordeaux Developments, said nominees for the Community of the Year award were peer-reviewed by members of the industry, who volunteer their time to judge the nominees based on specific criteria.
She said Harmony made it through both rounds of judging and took home the award based on its innovation and ability to meet the needs of its community.
“It’s the vision of the community and how we’ve achieved it,” Campbell said of the reasoning behind the final vote. “Harmony [has] eight guiding principles – live, learn, play, work, create, connect, sustain, and nourish – and part of the reason we did that was to rethink what a community can be.”
According to Campbell, environmental preservation and sustainability are two other focuses of the community.
“It brings together the best of urban and country experiences to create a remarkable community,” she said.
“You get the small-town living, but you still have access to everything you need.”
She said the award is especially meaningful to the developers, as the decision was made by a panel of industry peers and professionals.
“They all see everything every single day, and for them to look at it and say, ‘This community is really amazing’ [is meaningful],” she said.
Campbell added the community also stands out to homeowners who are proud of their community.
"It’s fun to say we live in a community that is winning awards, but [homeowners] truly are the backbone of our community,” she said. “They put their trust in us and they’ve made Harmony a home – they're the ones who built it up.
“We can put in all the infrastructure, and we can put the immediate amenities in, but it’s their community spirit that’s made it such an amazing place.”
The award ceremony took place on April 30 at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was weird. It was great. It was really nice to see people in person and reconnect with them,” Campbell said. “It’s always a really fun event. It’s really well done and they have a lot of awards to get through – it's a well-oiled machine.”
