Bayshore Gardens (once the parking lots of the Bayshore Hotel) was one of the six (or seven, or eight – depending what you count) of the megaprojects underway in 1990s Vancouver.
It was the least urban of the projects, with little mixed use, considerable setbacks and and abundance of parks and gardens. Nor were the streets an extension of the existing grid; indeed one had a bit of a suburban jog in it to discourage through traffic. And even though they were a little too wide, they were heavily planted and landscaped, so the boulevards and setbacks bled into the gardens and parks.
Like this:
Michael Geller, the project manager, recalls the street trees being planted in 1994. Jane Durante of Durante Kreuk, the landscape architects, believes them to be red maples, now almost a quarter century old.
It’s a great illustration of how to create a bucolic setting literally a few metres from one of the widest, busiest streets in the city. Go here, where the images were taken, and explore the gardens for yourself.
