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Warehouse District Park

For reference - Downtown Vancouver's soon to be newest park.

Smithe-Richards-Urban-Park-By-DIALOG-3.jpg

awards.re-thinkingthefuture.com

Smithe & Richards Urban Park By DIALOG - Rethinking The Future Awards

The Smithe and Richards Urban Park is the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation’s gift to the downtown core...
awards.re-thinkingthefuture.com awards.re-thinkingthefuture.com
 
IanO said:
For reference - Downtown Vancouver's soon to be newest park.

View attachment 299703
awards.re-thinkingthefuture.com

Smithe & Richards Urban Park By DIALOG - Rethinking The Future Awards

The Smithe and Richards Urban Park is the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation’s gift to the downtown core...
awards.re-thinkingthefuture.com awards.re-thinkingthefuture.com
Click to expand...

Personally I think we can do something better than what Vancouver has done with this park. We don't really need sitting places and elevated walking traffic corridors. We need activity spaces. Skating rink/skateshacks, running track, playground, flat green spaces for common uses, surrounded by nice fencing and semi-mature aspen trees. A nice water feature we could use would be a wading pool with a large fountain that can be convertible to a second ice surface in the winter as well.

I fear the city and designers are going to employ criss crossing concrete pathways throughout the block and break it all up - which is standard park design of this day, but bigger, simpler, continuous spaces are pretty important here considering the city's financial situation and the local population's (and their children's) requirements.
 
Stevey_G said:
Personally I think we can do something better than what Vancouver has done with this park. We don't really need sitting places and elevated walking traffic corridors. We need activity spaces. Skating rink/skateshacks, running track, playground, flat green spaces for common uses, surrounded by nice fencing and semi-mature aspen trees. A nice water feature we could use would be a wading pool with a large fountain that can be convertible to a second ice surface in the winter as well.

I fear the city and designers are going to employ criss crossing concrete pathways throughout the block and break it all up - which is standard park design of this day, but bigger, simpler, continuous spaces are pretty important here considering the city's financial situation and the local population's (and their children's) requirements.
Click to expand...
Agreed completely. I'd love for this park to provide a more natural space downtown for folks to relax and recreate; there's enough concrete and asphalt as it is.
 
CplKlinger said:
Agreed completely. I'd love for this park to provide a more natural space downtown for folks to relax and recreate; there's enough concrete and asphalt as it is.
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True. Grass/green space is precious downtown. just think of how many people sit under the trees on the grass in Churchill vs on the concrete. The Vancouver image is a nice drawing, but i think would be overkill for this Edmonton site, with too much emphasis put on pedestrian walkways and throughput over space to just sit and breathe. we probably won't have enough pedestrian traffic crossing the park to justify a bunch of pathways. Green space would be better. I mean, just think of Alex Decoteau. the water feature is really nice, and the seating is great, but where it's positioned creates awkward layouts. Bisecting the park the way it does, the central concrete area splits up the grass/green space into unusable chunks, and compresses the dog park area, which always seems full. If the same features had been rearranged a bit, maybe not focusing so much on cutting off the corner for pedestrians, the well-used dog park could be bigger and the grass more accomodating. I'll say that Alex Decoteau is still one of my favorite spots downtown, but the way they're arranged reduces the impact of the green space. I hope they don't apply the same arrangement to the Warehouse District Park. We have the luxury of grass downtown, let's maximize it!
 
cliffapotamus said:
True. Grass/green space is precious downtown. just think of how many people sit under the trees on the grass in Churchill vs on the concrete. The Vancouver image is a nice drawing, but i think would be overkill for this Edmonton site, with too much emphasis put on pedestrian walkways and throughput over space to just sit and breathe. we probably won't have enough pedestrian traffic crossing the park to justify a bunch of pathways. Green space would be better. I mean, just think of Alex Decoteau. the water feature is really nice, and the seating is great, but where it's positioned creates awkward layouts. Bisecting the park the way it does, the central concrete area splits up the grass/green space into unusable chunks, and compresses the dog park area, which always seems full. If the same features had been rearranged a bit, maybe not focusing so much on cutting off the corner for pedestrians, the well-used dog park could be bigger and the grass more accomodating. I'll say that Alex Decoteau is still one of my favorite spots downtown, but the way they're arranged reduces the impact of the green space. I hope they don't apply the same arrangement to the Warehouse District Park. We have the luxury of grass downtown, let's maximize it!
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When it comes to landscape architecture. less can be a lot more when the community's needs are considered. I think A.D.P is visually stunning with how it's laid out and only imagine it'll look better when the little orchard of trees mature, but you are, the bisecting lines and positioning of some of the manholes within the green space make it a little hard to safely toss a frisbee around and whatnot.

I really hope the city doesn't put this on the backburner. If they do, I bet the surrounding developments will become less a priority for Edgar and the lot of them.
 
This space could be great with plenty of green space. Despite the lack of green space in Churchill Square I think Churchill's design is good for what it is used for. I remember when Churchill had plenty of green grass and a bunch of trees but I also remember then every summer the grass would get torn up because of all the festivals. I think this other Park would be better as a standard park with lots more grass and trees, and have other amenities that would be considered as a traditional Park would be.
 
A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. You don't need some over-designed/uber-expensive and complex park for it to be successful.
2. You do need density/people/regular use.
3. It needs to be attractive, open and safe for all users.
4. People want to grab a coffee and sit at a bistro table to people watch, if there are people to watch.
5. Fountains do wonders for white-noise, the playfulness of the site and it mesmerizes both young and old - it also attracts birds
6. Lighting, lighting effects (especially in Edmonton) are key to its success.

Udvardi Image.jpg

www.wellesley.edu

Urban Parks And Displacement | Albright Institute

Are designed landscapes that once served to exclude and exploit finally becoming truly public spaces?
www.wellesley.edu www.wellesley.edu
 
My hope here is that we replicate the successes of Giovanni Caboto Park in Little Italy here - big leafy spaces, playgrounds, places to relax or gather, minimal concrete or designs that are better from overhead angles. Simple, classic, attractive.
 
I'd kind of like something designed more traditionally, akin to the Halifax Public Gardens,. I don't mind the crisscrossing sidewalks and modern design of ADP, but there is very little traditional green space in Edmonton other than maybe parts of the Legislature grounds. You could have walking paths, fountains, maybe bandstand and a kiosk or two with patio seating for drinks. Could even add in some tennis or basketball courts and maybe some statutes or other artwork.

I feel like there are so many great park spaces around the world there shouldn't be a need to make the new central park gimmicky or super expensive. Raised walking paths and over-engineered water features never seem to turn out that great anyway. Is it too much to ask for a coffee in green and natural surroundings!?
 
So, Doan's Vietnamese restaurant closed last year, and a few months later Edmonton stated that it "acquired 2 additional plots of land." Did the city acquire the land where the restaurant sat? I'm feel bad that they had to close, but I'd also love for that final part of the park to be filled. The city originally tried to buy the land from the family, but they refused to sell, stating that they wanted to "grow with the surrounding landscape." The maps and renderings on the project page still portray that plot as outside of the park, but I reallly hope that the city acquired the land and just neglected to update the page after. Does anyone have an idea about this?
 
CplKlinger said:
So, Doan's Vietnamese restaurant closed last year, and a few months later Edmonton stated that it "acquired 2 additional plots of land." Did the city acquire the land where the restaurant sat? I'm feel bad that they had to close, but I'd also love for that final part of the park to be filled. The city originally tried to buy the land from the family, but they refused to sell, stating that they wanted to "grow with the surrounding landscape." The maps and renderings on the project page still portray that plot as outside of the park, but I reallly hope that the city acquired the land and just neglected to update the page after. Does anyone have an idea about this?
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Yes I herd that the two plots of land were Doan's and the site of the canceled project Jasper house https://edmonton.skyrisecities.com/database/projects/jasper-house. So the park is more of a uniform shape.
 
CplKlinger said:
YES!
This is a once-in-a-generation project, and we need to get it right the first time. I'm so glad that the city recognized that, and took the opportunity to grab these plots of land while they could.
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I just wish they were able to acquire the building with the See Zen Benevolent Society @10171 107 St. I guess you cant have it all but it just such an ugly building next to the park.
 
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