Landscape improvements for this new mixed-use development integrate and enhance the streetscape improvement measures the city of West Vancouver is currently implementing, providing a vibrant and pedestrian friendly landscape along the entire perimeter of the site. The landscape design for the 1300 Block, Marine Drive South at Ambleside Village Centre contributes to the City’s goals for revitalization by creating a strong public streetscape, flexible spaces for community activities, and locations for plazas, cafés, art installations, and a healthy and vibrant civic realm. The project makes use of the material palette and other design standards set forth by the City, with modifications to provide upgrades of paving and other features, establishing a compelling design and strong place-making for public and private realms. Maple trees unify the street edge and provide continuity with the existing tree canopies along Marine Drive. Along the street edges and through the Galleria plaza, colored concrete bands add interest and variety to the ground plane, extending across Bellevue Avenue, which may be closed off to provide temporary plaza space for community events.
Sculptures and art installations emphasize the public, pedestrian-friendly character of the neighborhood, provide focal points for pedestrian and vehicular traffic along Marine Drive and function as thresholds to the 14th street and the Bellevue plazas. Art installations at the north and south corners highlight the gateways to the project, while special paving, trees in grates, lighting, and movable seating increases the appeal and livable character. Sustainable elements throughout the project include the use of permeable paving and a series of linear landscape panels that serve as rain gardens.
The project was honored with a ULI Americas Award for Excellence in 2021
Brentwood Town Centre
The Brentwood Town Centre Development Plan will transform the existing suburban-style shopping mall into a mixed-use, transit-oriented community, reasserting itself as the nucleus of the Brentwood Town Centre area. The site will accommodate some 2,000-4,000 high, medium, and low-rise residential units. Its role as a shopping destination will be expanded into a...
Pacific Design Center
Once surrounded by barren plazas and impenetrable landscapes, the Pacific Design Center’s environment and image have been dramatically transformed by a complete redesign that includes parks, plazas, water features, cafes, lighting, and graphics. A two-acre open space area along San Vicente Boulevard has been transformed into a public park and gathering space,...
Stanford West Apartments
The landscape design for Stanford West Housing creates a lush and inviting place for residents, complete with recreation trails, parks and play areas, while also conserving the site’s environmentally sensitive characteristics. Special emphasis was placed on maintaining the riparian corridor with native planting and the site’s archaeologically sensitive areas w...
Giant Interactive Headquarters
We collaborated with Morphosis Architects on a new ecological park and living laboratory for Giant Interactive Headquarters, a 45-acre corporate campus in Shanghai, China. The design concept blurs the distinction between the ground plane and the structure, weaving water and wetland habitats together with the folded green roof of the main building design. The s...