HALIFAX – Architecture students at Dalhousie University are venturing to build a temporary staircase up Citadel Hill in Halifax.
The project is part of a design-build course. The staircase will be ready for public use in early August.
The stair structure has been built off-site as part of the course called HFX Tactical Architecture. When completed, the staircase will be accessible from the corner of Brunswick and Sackville Streets.
The program is designed to bring together architecture undergraduates, graduates, as well as partners in Parks Canada and the City of Halifax.
“This temporary staircase will help remedy eroded conditions at the entry of the footpath, in addition to providing a welcoming and less challenging passage for visitors who ascend and descend the hill,” says program instructor Devin McCarthy.
HFX Tactical Architecture is inspired by recent movements of citizen-led projects, known as tactical urbanism. These projects are designed to improve urban spaces and have appeared all across North America.
The program’s students and instructors hope this will spark conversation about improving the Halifax community.
The staircase will remain in place until the fall.
