What was once temporary becomes permanent. From this:
To this:
That’s Jody Andrews walking part of the seawall still under construction. He’s the Project Manager for Southeast False Creek and the Olympic Village (and also a Deputy City Manager) – and he’s especially proud of what has been achieved here. The City in this case was in charge of design and construction of the seawall – unlike the North Shore of False Creek and Coal Harbour, where the developer was essentially responsible.
Here are two examples: first, the use of wood planking, preserved with salt instead of chemicals, and second, these granite steps which could have come expeditiously from China were instead quarried locally at Hardy Island.
And in case you think that the new seawall looks a tad sterile, then you have to see the whole thing – particularly the new peninsula:
This offshore sanctuary was a clever way to deal with the need to satisfy the federal fisheries department by creating a naturalized shoreline, wetlands and fish habitat. They even added snags for raptors:
Imagine, during the Olympics, the cameras zooming in on a bald eagle perched on a branch as it surveys False Creek, with the stadium and snow-capped mountains as a backdrop. (Yes, I know, most likely in the rain.)
The City’s Senior Urban Design Scot Hein explains some of the reasons why the “Shipyards Precinct” public realm plan deserves special recognition:
This plan, which won the national RAIC top urban design award two years ago and authored by PWL (Margot Long and Derek Lee), was jointly commissioned by the SEFC Project Office and the Planning Department. (It was) one reason that the completed results are of such high quality.
The other factors are, of course, the skill sets of the consultants, proper management of the work, adequate budget, high-quality construction and a challenging deadline which, I believe, was to our advantage….
(Here’s) the first pedestrian bridge image, which was rejected …
followed by a second image produced after a sketching session together with the landscape architect and structural engineer which is very close to what has been implemented.
The “canoe bridge” (see New Stuff 2 below) speaks to the Shipyards precinct history in its form, robust design and scale noticeable from many vantage points along the False Creek basin.
Here’s another example of how the designers have pushed the envelope – the ‘love seats.’
They look spotless now. But can they survive the skateboarders and the taggers? No doubt that Vancouverites love the seawall. Southeast False Creek takes it to a new level.
It does look like a fantastic space, with great materials. I particularly love the oversize boat cleats that act as benches, nice to see some whimsy. And I’ve already spotted an eagle perched on the new island – pretty awesome.
Wow. I love the natural shoreline the best.
I think the high quality and beauty of the space will garner the respect it needs to prevent vandalism, don’t you think? I’m just thinking back to Kunstler’s talk about us wanting to taking care of spaces when they’re beautiful.
The last time I walked around False Creek between Main St and Cambie it was a rough industrial sector so I’m looking forward to a fresh new visit.
It’s now part of my running route coming back home from work. The really did a heck of a job.
Do we know if the section on the north side by the new Concorde presentation center will be completed before the Olympic?
Vancouver has such great weather for photography! And I’ll remind you that all through the ’06 winter games in Turin, Vancouver was sunny and brilliant. I thought it was a nice portent for ’10.
The love-seats leave me cold, though. Let us know if the media finds any couples who fell in love on them.
my wife and i already love this walk. we park the car at science world and trek to granville island with kid and grandpa in tow. if we get tired, we can take an aqua bus back ($6 per adult GI to SW). that new island is beautiful and once the trees grow in and the construction finished, i’m sure this will be a favorite spot for vancouverites.
however…, there is clearly a homeless problem around science world and those new fancy benches (those cool looking wooden ones as well) will soon be beds. and, i’m not to sure what the point of that bridge is. according to GVTV, its costs $600,000 and it take about 2 whole minutes more to walk around it rather than over it. i think its whole purpose is to look pretty even though i think it looks like something from expo 86. buts still kinda cool and tourists will love it.
another problem, and perhaps the biggest problem yet, i could not get a cup of coffee half way through our walk. i am not accustomed to walk (almost 4 km) on the weekend without java in my hand and i was not about to force the family to walk up to 4th to get something from crapbucks. i hope they remedy this fast!!!!
unfortunately the bridge is truly awful. it is clunky and imposing, there is no acknowledgment of proportionality and scale. I can see where they were going with the “canoe” theme in the rendering but something was lost in translation, perhaps the materiality. It’s science world scaffolding meets abandoned theme park ride from the 60’s and it’s ultimately depressing. where is the delicacy of a racing shell? The whole thing is heavy handed and appears to have been done in sketchup?? honestly I’m not sure what kind of professionals they had assigned to this design but it clearly missed the mark entirely and was amateur in presentation. was there not a design competition? with the vast breadth of talent in this city surely they could have plummed the waters of the UBC, BCIT and Simon Fraser architecture schools. those designs would have been miles ahead of what looks to have been designed by an intern over the weekend.
sorry to be a downer, the rest is lovely – albeit green washed, millennium has had their way with the original vision, and it appears yet again that millennium is where noble visions go to die.
as an environmental design student I’m looking forward to watching the birth of this neighbourhood and what fingerprint it’s inhabitants will leave over time. luckily no matter what foot you land on first, there is always another to follow.
Thanks so much for the fantastic website Gordon!
Caitlin
i’m looking forward to the final phase of the seawall being completed as i often walk the south side, then over the cambie street bridge into yaletown.
remember the old seawall in the 2000 block of beach avenue? there used to be a hotel there and one had to walk around it, when it was demolished the seawall was completed. it’s a wonderful addition to our beautiful city.
They have really spruced up the south side of False Creek! I enjoy the different surfaces they have used that range from the small granite cubes to the wooden planks. The big granite blocks remind me of a very mini version of the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. The island is well designed, although I am waiting for the day when a beaver gnaws down one of the spars! I saw a beaver sitting on the shore of the island the other day and that thought crossed my mind! I personally don’t like the spars – they look too contrived – however, I appreciate their usefulness to the avian habitat. I can live without the love seats, too!
I have one HUGE beef that I feel needs immediate attention…the garbage receptacles. The ones that are there now are fine, but please put in 3 or 4 garbage cans that do not require pulling down on a handle. Straight drop-in bins are what we need. There are different reasons why, which many of you can likely determine (kids, dogs, hands full, etc.). There are drop-in bins all along the rest of the seawall around False Creek. PLEASE add a few to this area, too.
Enjoy your walks, runs, skates or whatever in this refreshed and great looking area of False Creek.