Marine Drive Station Area Incremental Visions of a Neighbourhood’s Future Canada Line Theory and Methods of Urban Design • Fall 2008 • University of British Columbia 2 Project Introduction The work summarized in this book was undertaken in direct contrast to the industrial and commercial the weekly progression of designs with summaries for a course at the School of Community and character of the neighbourhood to the south. This of the design interventions and critiques. The final Regional Planning at UBC. The course was station area therefore represents unique challenges outcome represents weeks of deliberation, discussion, entitled Theory and Methods of Urban Design to reconciling varied and possibly competing and incremental growth towards a neighbourhood that and it covered the fundamentals of urban design by visions for how a rapid transit station might be a is responsive to the anticipated challenges of climate inviting students to apply theory to neighborhood catalyst for new forms of development. change, peak oil, increased and aging population, and design. The course surveyed major historical and the need for complete healthy walkable communities. contemporary trends in urban design theory and Teams of students collaborated to build a physical practice, and introduced contemporary theories on scale model of the area within a five minute This book represents the hard work and dedication of the future forces affecting the development and walking radius of the Marine Drive Station. Each the following students: functioning of urban regions. Students discussed team was responsible for a component of the Rebecca Bateman, cities at multiple scales and applied their evolving base as well as a portion of the existing buildings Latosia Campbell understanding to neighbourhood scale development within this neighbourhood. All existing buildings Joanna Clark in the Marine Drive Station Area in Marpole, and roads, sidewalks and trees were represented. Andréanne Doyon Vancouver. The course is designed to provide a Buildings were simplified considerably and did Megan Fitzgerald collaborative, interactive and applied environment not show any architectural details. All existing Michele Fuge for the development of spatial thinking and basic buildings were built using white museum Waleed Giratalla urban design literacy. board and existing trees were represented Martin Gregorian using white material. The student teams then Adam Hyslop The Canada Line, connecting Vancouver to took turns designing new interventions for the Bronwyn Jarvis Richmond and the Vancouver International Airport, neighbourhood working on the east and west sides Jody Kliffer is a rapid transit system that emerges from an separately. Ellen Larcombe underground tunnel to an elevated guideway at Sawngjai Manityakul Marine Drive and Cambie Street. The Marine Every week one team of students presented a Johanna Mazur Drive Station is also located at this intersection. design for half of the neighbourhood that is east Andrew Merrill With a projected daily ridership of 100,000 of Cambie and another team presented a design Asrai Ord passengers, the Canada Line is expected to for the half that is west of Cambie. A different pair Stacy Passmore increase pressure for more intensive development of teams then critiqued a design each. The teams Mona Poon around each station. Marine Drive itself is one who did the critique then went on to produce Naveeda Rizwan of Vancouver’s busiest streets and an important design interventions the following week and a Sean Tynan trucking route. third pair of teams critiqued them. This cycle Anjali Varghese continued three times so by the end of the course Christine Wenman Our study area as defined by the City of Vancouver: The Marine Drive station is at the interface each team had produced three design interventions http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/marpolegateway/ between one of Vancouver’s oldest residential on the model. All new buildings were constructed Jody Kliffer, Ellen Larcombe and Johanna Mazur were neighbourhoods and one of its last remaining using antique white museum board and new trees in charge of designing this book, editing its content, large tracts of industrial land. The Fraser River is were constructed using green material. producing the figure ground drawings, and generally only a six-minute walk to the south of the station. documenting all the course work. The class is grateful Also within walking distance are; a city garbage Students were asked to articulate a problem or an for their efforts. Martin Gregorian was a tremendous and recycling transfer station, an elementary opportunity for their design and then propose an help in photographing the weekly design interventions school, seniors housing complexes, single family intervention and then discuss its contribution to and documenting with great skill the detail of the homes, townhouses, apartment buildings and a the neighbourhood. The majority of students in model and its evolution over time. It has been my neighbourhood park. The residential character of the course were new to design and had not prior sincere pleasure to teach this course. the neighbourhood to the north of Marine Drive is graphic or design experience. This book presents Maged Senbel, December 2008 School of Community and Regional Planning Urban Design 2008 1 Class Photograph School of Community and Regional Planning Urban Design 2008 2 Aerial Photograph 62nd Ave. 63rd Ave. 64th Ave. Columbia St. Yukon St. Yukon 65th Ave. 66th Ave. Marine Drive Manitoba St. Cambie St. Heather St. Heather Lord St. 68th Ave. Ash St. 68th Ave. 69th Ave. Yukon St. Yukon 70th Ave. 70th Ave. Marine Drive Cambie St. Aisne St. Ash St. Heather St. Kent Ave. Google Map 2007, IMTCAN 2008 School of Community and Regional Planning Urban Design 2008 3 Figure GroundFIGURE GROUND N scale 1 : 5000 0 100 250 500 meters School of Community and Regional Planning Urban Design 2008 4 Zoning Map One-Family Dwelling Districts RS-1 One-Family Dwelling Districts The intent is to maintain the single-family residential character of the RS-1 District, but also to permit conditionally one-family dwellings with secondary suites. emphasis is placed on encouraging neighbourly development by preserving outdoor space and views. neighbourhood amenity is enhanced through the maintenance of healthy trees and planting which reflects the established streetscape. Light Industrial Districts CD-1 Comprehensive Development District A separate CD-1 bylaw exists for each area or site zoned CD-1, tailor-made to the intended form of development. Two-Family Dwelling Districts RT-1 Two-Family Dwelling District The intent is primarily to permit side-by-side two-family dwellings RT-2 Two-Family Dwelling District The intent is to permit two-family dwellings and to conditionally permit, in some instances, low density multiple-family housing. Commercial Districts C-1 Commercial District The intent is to provide for small-scale convenience commercial establishments, catering typically to the needs of a local neighbourhood and consisting primarily of retail sales and certain limited service functions, and to provide for dwelling uses designed compatibly with commercial uses. Multiple Dwelling Districts RM-3, RM-3A Multiple Dwelling Districts The intent is to permit medium density residential development, including high- rise apartment buildings, and to secure a higher quality of parking, open space and daylight access through floor area bonus incentives. http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/currentplanning/coloured_zoning_map.htm School of Community and Regional Planning Urban Design 2008 5 Incremental Design Proposals School of Community and Regional Planning Urban Design 2008 6 Week one: FIGUREFigure GROUND Ground N scale 1 : 5000 0 100 250 500 meters School of Community and Regional Planning Urban Design 2008 7 Week one: Physical Interventions West Side east Side Looking East from Ash towards Marine Drive and Cambie Looking West from Yukon towards Marine Drive and Cambie School of Community and Regional Planning Urban Design 2008 8 Week one: West Side Design and Critique DESIGN - Team A: Andrew Merrill, Anjali Varghese, Michele Fuge CRITIQUE - Team B: Johanna Mazur, Ellen Larcombe, Jody Kliffer Defining the Problem 4.Park improvements to the Ash Street parkland (adjacent Framing of the Problem straddling Marine Drive. To increase pedestrian movement Initial site visits to the project area highlighted a lack of public to the Elementary School). To coincide with the pedestrian We support Team A’s framing of the problems – lack of across Marine Drive, we recommend including a ramp to the amenity and community focal point. Upon studying the and cycle path, the park will be improved to create a facilities for non-vehicular traffic, lack of a community focal walkway for the southeast residents. area’s aerial maps, and the final model, it was apparent that community amenity. There will be a small playground area point, limited commercial and public amenity, and lack of the area lacked a community ‘feel’. As Bacon(1974) states, in the centre of the park. A community garden area on the a community “feel”, with no recognition of the prominent Kevin Lynch’s focus on the cognitive perception of cities “good design should interlock and interrelate buildings across Lord Street frontage, and a more heavily planted garden Chinese community of the neighbourhood through urban and the meaning derived from our experience of urban space”. Further, Sternberg (2000) states “Urban Design’s area to