OttawaThe outdoor space on Marier Avenue has been transformed with bright colours, artwork and comfortable furniture, and is designed to be inclusive and accessible for residents. The head of the Vanier BIA calls it “a house where everyone belongs.”Dream to build ‘a house where everybody belongs’ began 7 years agoEmma Weller · CBC News · Posted: Nov 21, 2025 11:25 AM EST | Last Updated: 43 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Nathalie Carrier, executive director of the Vanier Business Improvement Area, said the dream for this community hub began seven years ago. (Emma Weller/CBC)Standing on what was once just a parking lot, Nathalie Carrier’s face was streaked with tears as she and her team unveiled a vibrant new community hub in Vanier on Thursday. The outdoor space on Marier Avenue has been transformed with bright colours, artwork and comfortable furniture, and is designed to be inclusive and accessible for residents.It began as a dream seven years ago when Carrier, executive director of the Vanier Business Improvement Area, noticed children who were living in nearby shelters had no public parks to play in.She said it took the whole community to make the dream come true.”Magic happens when people come together,” she said. “You have this dream, you plant a seed, but people have been watering it and planting more seeds and here we are.”The project received a federal grant three years ago, followed by a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Together, they totalled $500,000, Carrier said.Community members, students and politicians gathered at the Vanier hub Thursday afternoon for the official opening of the space that has been revitalized with the help of a Carleton University architecture program. (Emma Weller/CBC)The space is entirely outdoors, with beams over top to resemble the shape of a house. Underneath are several open-air “rooms” including a living room, a dining room and a children’s room with a play kitchen. “The idea is to create a space, a house where everybody belongs,” Carrier said. It also includes a stage, a separate event space and a children’s playground featuring Indigenous art. The ‘living room’ features comfortable yet durable furniture. (Emma Weller/CBC)The hub was largely designed and constructed by students from Carleton University’s Architecture Action Lab, led by Prof. Menna Agha.”We did everything from digging the foundations, from putting up the post, from constructing the truss, from building the custom furniture,” said Carleton student Sally El Sayed, who has been working on the project for over two years. El Sayed said for the last six months, a team of some 150 volunteers including community members has been working at least four days a week to finish the project. “It just feels really good to realize architecture can actually be something community-oriented, where people are deeply moved and affected,” said Olive Lazarus, another student. WATCH | Some of the volunteers behind the project:Volunteers built this new community hub in VanierVanier residents gathered to celebrate the opening of a new outdoor community space designed and built almost entirely by volunteers and architecture students.Mayor Mark Sutcliffe attended Thursday afternoon’s ribbon cutting and applauded their work to make this corner of the city more vibrant and welcoming. “It really shows what community is all about,” Sutcliffe told CBC. “Vanier is such a great, historic part of our city, and it’s been through its ups and downs over the years, but I feel like Vanier’s really on a roll right now.”ABOUT THE AUTHOREmma Weller is a reporter for CBC Ottawa and she’s also worked with CBC’s Your World Tonight. She can be reached at emma.weller@cbc.ca.
Vanier’s new gathering place a true community effort
