Hannah Glinz recently completed her final semester in the Bachelor of Environmental Design & Planning program at Fanshawe College, where she and her classmates Bryar Pace, Jessi McLellan, Stuart MacGregor, and Josh Barber made their mark by winning Longridge Partners’ Melville Park Design Competition. Their proposal will help shape the future of Melville Park, a 624-acre property in Caledon, Ontario.
The competition challenged students to imagine a multi-functional space that balanced economic benefits with environmental preservation and respect for the site’s historical context. Hannah’s team envisioned Melville Park as a low-impact, nature-based retreat featuring an environmentally sensitive 12-hole golf course, the Altitude Spa & Wellness Retreat, luxury cabins, farm-to-table dining, seasonal trails, and educational programming. Their design highlighted sustainability, accessibility, and long-term economic viability.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
This Melville Park Competition tasked the students with designing a multi-functional space for Longridge Partners’ property in Caledon, Ontario. The winning team’s proposal would decide the future of the Melville Park property.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Our team’s goal for this property was to find a balance between economic benefits for not only Longridge Partners, but for the town of Caledon and Melville, and preserving the site’s beautiful environment and historical context. Our proposal imagined Melville Park as a low-impact, nature-based retreat. Anchored by a 12-hole environmentally sensitive golf course and the Altitude Spa & Wellness Retreat, their concept featured luxury cabins, a farm-to-table dining experience, educational programming, and seasonal trails, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, accessibility, and economic viability.
When did you start/join it?
Our team formed back in January of this year, and we were given approximately three months to submit our final design package by mid-March.
What made you want to get involved?
The competition was actually assigned as our major project for the semester in the BEDP program. Submitting to the Longridge Partners’ competition wasn’t a requirement, but who wouldn’t want to participate in such a massive opportunity?
What was the situation like when you started?
The 624-acre property, Melville Park, is located in a picturesque valley in Caledon’s north with some very significant ecological features like marshes, prairies, and woodlands, with some historical homes on the peripheral edges.
How has it changed since?
The property is envisioned to include a 12-hole environmentally sensitive golf course, a spa and wellness retreat, luxury cabins, farm-to-table dining, seasonal trails, and educational programming. As Longridge Partners is still in the planning stages ahead of any site work, it remains to be seen which aspects of the various proposals will be carried forward into the final development.
What more needs to be done?
There are some significant planning and legislative boxes that need to be checked before any changes to the site can occur, and these things take quite a bit of time.
How can our readers help?
Stay tuned for what’s next at Melville Park by following Longridge Partners.
Do you have any events coming up?
My colleagues and classmates, and I have semi-officially completed our final semester and will be attending our convocation ceremony in November. For me personally, I am moving on to looking for work and beginning my career.
Where can we follow you?
Instagram | Website | LinkedIn
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?
As part of my capstone project, I focused on using food as a medium to enhance social and cultural belonging and inclusion, so on that note, I’d like to highlight Urban Roots London, The Patch London, and Growing Chefs (also in London) as a few charities and organizations that I recently got to learn quite a bit about and that provide really important services to the community.
