Pop-up Places

Last summer we were part of a team, working for the City of Kelowna, that endeavored to make better summertime use of a large concrete plaza in one of the city's premier waterfront parks, Stuart Park. The surface is used as an ice skating rink in the winter months and cannot have anything permanently built or attached to it. The 'Stuart Park Rec Room' project brings life to this space through colourful movable seating, ping pong tables and a life sized chess board. Locals and tourists alike enjoy the space: some taking their lunch break gathered with friends, some playing a quick game on their way to the beach. It is a huge success, both in terms of creating another use for the vast concrete plaza as well as creating a space in which people find common ground and feel comfortable interacting and relaxing with one another.

Street Style

The City of Victoria has done some great work integrating stormwater management into landscaped boulevards along their urban streets. This example in particular was attention catching. The details are simple yet well planned and executed. It has all the components that create a sense of place and space for the pedestrian. A seat wall alongside the widened walkway provides the separation needed between pedestrians and cars, and the mature shade trees provide cooling and coverage with their overhead canopy. Stormwater from the street and adjacent concrete walkways is directed at intervals into the shimmery grassy swaled boulevard.