CUNARD
Location
1325 Lower Water Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Partners
Southwest Properties
Contact
Questions/Feedback: cunard@buildns.ca
Keep in Touch: Sign up for email updates
About
Developed in partnership with Southwest Properties, CUNARD is a high-quality, mixed-use project that will contribute to a total of two acres of exciting new public space on the Halifax Waterfront, near the intersection of Lower Water Street and Morris Street.
The development will be built to LEED® Gold certification. The CUNARD Residences will feature 231 rental units, interior parking, and ground level retail. Together, the building and its surroundings will form a unique new destination on the southern waterfront.
Southwest Properties started construction on the CUNARD project in spring 2021, and completion is scheduled for early 2024. Construction of the public space will begin fall 2023 and continue until summer 2024. Once the project is complete, Build Nova Scotia will manage and operate these new, high-quality waterfront public spaces that will welcome locals and visitors of all ages to come play on the waterfront. We will maintain continuous public access to the water’s edge during and after the site’s development.

new public spaces at cunard
August 2023: Two years of engagement with rightsholders, stakeholders, members of historically and systemically excluded communities, and the general public has resulted in a public space design featuring a suite of new nature-inspired experiences on Halifax’s southern waterfront.
Responding to the ideas we heard, a playful design has been prepared by Hapa Collaborative (Vancouver, BC) in partnership with Brackish Design Studio and EastPoint Engineering (Halifax, NS).
This new place on the waterfront has been designed to a high standard of accessibility, with guidance from Atlantic Accessibility (Halifax, NS).
The design invites the community to program, activate, and celebrate in the space for years to come. Public space infrastructure and landscaping are designed to be resilient to the effects of climate change.
A new home for the Acadian Monument will be part of the space. New accessible public washrooms are also included, that will be located at the northwest corner of the site in Bishop’s Landing.
When construction ends (estimated for summer 2024), Build Nova Scotia will manage and operate these new waterfront public spaces and amenities. A link to the construction tender can be found here: BNS-2324-0055.
Our sincere thanks to everyone who has contributed to this process since late 2020.
From 2020 to 2022, Build Nova Scotia engaged extensively on the design of CUNARD’s new public spaces. Guided by past conversations about the waterfront, our engagement focused on two objectives:
1. Making the waterfront a welcoming, inviting, and comfortable place for everyone to visit and spend time; and
2. Improving the range of fun, recreational, and “backyard” amenities available to residents and visitors in downtown Halifax.
The CUNARD engagement process included:
- 200+ hours of detailed conversation about play, inclusion, and countless other topics with 150+ experts, rightsholders, and stakeholders
- Pop-up waterfront engagement conversations with 250+ people
- Ten listening sessions (thematic group conversations) with 50+ participants
- Three roundtable sessions (focused discussions) with 20+ participants
- Two inspiration sessions (design workshops) with 15 participants
- Nearly 200 online surveys submitted by the general public
- 750+ unique ideas for the waterfront recorded to date
Click here to download our What We’re Hearing report (winter 2022)
Click here to download our What We’re Hearing appendix (summer 2023)
Watch a video summary of what we’ve been hearing:
Hours of Work
Work will generally take place during normal working hours. These are noted below. More information on HRM construction exemptions here.
Monday to Friday:
7:00am-8:00pm
Saturdays:
8:00am-7:00pm
Sundays & Statutory Holidays:
9:00am-7:00pm
Servicing Work
Although work is not expected to be required outside of the times listed above, if, for any reason, work is anticipated to be required outside of these hours, the contractor will apply to HRM for approval 5 business days (minimum) in advance of such work and obtain approval prior to proceeding. It is noted that HRM’s Noise By-Law cannot be altered without HRM council approval; work must adhere to the Noise By-Law.