Two weeks ago, James Tuer invited me to be one of four critics for the projects presented by his second year landscape students at UBC. It was a rewarding experience to review14 student projects that rejuvenate Bowen Island's Snug Cove village. Each student had selected a specific area with specific achievement objectives.The students were not expected to study the larger context surrounding their project sites.Each project brings fresh ideas to Bowen Island.
Architects build villages leaving little park space, while landscape architects look at buildings to form shared outdoor spaces for all to use and enjoy.Landscape architects focus on public areas such as parks, trails, courtyards, streets and alleys of all sorts. They always have a few green crayons at hand. Buildings may only be imagined to define outdoor spacesand to suggest appropriate uses.This group of students proposed small scale, friendly spaces and small buildings that most of us would like. A wealth of mostly modest ideas that respect "the village in the park" concept were presented.All schemes incorporated innovative storm water management solutions such as open creeks and water features.
The projects were grouped in the following locations:
Island entry from the ferry dock to the Union Steamship parking lot.
These projectsfocused not so much on the car but on the pedestrian. An enhanced, safe and welcoming entry to the village and attractivepark connections to both the boardwalk and the lagoon side of Crippen Park were proposed. Crippen Park was not split by continuous rows of buildings along Government Road.The park from Killarney Lake would mix with, and cross the village unharmed and extend to Dorman Point.Matt Gibbs,Sophie MacNeill,Shan Liu,Terence Redford andJordan McAuley explored what would be a nice way to arrive and depart from this wonderful island. Designs included a plaza with a relocated cenograph, an intertidal park, intimate park spaces right by the ferry, better shelter and interest for the pedestrian.
The Snug coffee house and the old bakery site
Lucas Holy and Ariel Vernon made us aware that small improvements can produce a significant difference. Grand plans are not always welcome and not easily approved on Bowen Island.In realitydevelopment often happens incrementally and circumstantially,not necessarily resulting from a smooth logically planned process. A small, well-liked project mayset an example that could initiatefurtherdevelopmentthat also meets community approval. Both Lucas and Ariel provided transparency to the orchard area between the retail frontages on Government Road. For example, a series of intriguing landscaped spaces, to be discovered, were proposedfrom the Snug Cafe and empty bakery lot to provide a draw into the park--a village in the park, as much as a park extending right to and across Government Road. Lukas "broke the barrier between the road and the park",so to speak.
Crippen Park
Michele Campbell presented a day camp near Davies Creek. Renovated cottages, with an added building that provides some sort of community use were arranged around a public garden area.This set up would be attractive for small events, a wedding for example. The orchard area would become a more relevant destination for islanders and visitors, again strengthening the interface of park and village.
Tatiana Graham proposed affordable family-oriented housing on the north side of Government Road right in Crippen Park. Bowen Island Municipality owns huge areas of community lands and removing lands from the park is really not needed. However Tatiana met her objectives and created an attractive housing cluster comprised of simple row houses that formed a courtyard space for safe child play. This is an interesting example of how small developments can front a road with some retail and office space while enticing walkers to explore the housing and park behind. Her concept could easily be realized on community lands.
Gravel parking lot adjacent to the general store.
Paul Peters, Dan Borslein and Somaye Hooshmand proposed projects that integrated the baseball field, and lower Cove with existing development at Miller, Dorman and Government Roads,using different park and courtyard designs and added mixed use buildings.These plans strengthen the true village centre at the Miller, Dorman, Government Road intersection where there are many existing vacant, or under-used private and community development parcels.The projects included interesting connected spaces to discover, and mixed-use buildings that buyers and renters would definitely appreciate.Somaye had created an artistic drawing - a site plan that was ready to be framed and hung in a gallery, or possibly in Bowen's council chamber to inspire our "get things done" council? She proposed an elegant curved ribbon like park system to connect the baseball field to Crippen Park north of the road, while providing opportunities to add mixed-use buildings.
Marshalling schemes
The main focus of the marshalling options was to provide attractive livable pedestrian environments with less car presence.Pietra Basilij separated loading and unloading ferry traffic by placing a park space in between to "celebrating the park experience," she said. You would never have to cross more than two lanes of traffic. The private marina parking lot was also used for waterfront buildings and entry to the extended boardwalk. She also recognized that incrementally small scale building clusters would be developed over the years.Alex Suvajac provided a very detailed traffic plan with a focus on the pedestrian environment that was created by providinga re-aligned Government Road with two roundabouts and a separate marshalling area located behind the library.
Not one project was ready to be implemented tomorrow, but there was a wealth of ideas.Snug Cove may not need a perfect and complete master plan.The community may only need to agree on a few key objectives, and trust that there is lots of creativity, energy and intelligence out there to respond. Community objectives could be to create an attractive pedestrian oriented village,use the vast amount of community lands that Bowen owns for the built environment, improve park uses within Crippen Park adjacent to the village, provide small scale, mixed-use and residential buildings and so on.
At UBC you are supposed to learn something. So I did, thanks to James Tuer and his team.
FRITS DE VRIES
special to the Undercurrent
