ENVISIONING VANCOUVER'S CENTRAL WATERFRONT: A NEW URBAN HORIZON

Architecture and engineering team publishes new proposal for downtown harbourfront

Architecture and urban design firm Farrells, in collaboration with engineering firm Arup, have developed a conceptual plan for Vancouver’s Central Waterfront that aims to recraft the relationship between the downtown core and harbour with a human-centric extension of the city. This vision explores how the strategic integration of emerging transport trends could energize the area, helping to transform it into a walkable social epicentre whilst also enhancing cross-harbour connectivity.

The proposal focuses on the waterfront lands around the CP rail yard that separates downtown Vancouver and Gastown from the Burrard Inlet. While this pocket of the city boasts stunning views of harbour activity and the North Shore Mountains, it remains undeveloped largely due to poor pedestrian connectivity and complex site ownership. The Farrells-Arup team propose to bridge the urban fabric over the partially retained rail yard in a manner that celebrates Vancouver’s heritage and identity, creating a new live-work-play neighbourhood, enhancing the waterfront realm and strengthening the area’s function as an important inter-modal transportation hub for the region.

“Our goal is to create a communal place for people that serves as a cohesive extension of the city, crafting a vibrant, people-centric destination that celebrates the city's heritage and character while also re-forging a relationship with its unique natural setting.”  – Stefan Krummeck, Farrells

New transport technologies could help pave the way for a more interconnected and sustainable urban transportation experience. Inspired by the site’s existing high-quality rail, aerial, and marine-based mobility options, the proposal anticipates the use of emerging transportation technologies as a means to help further enhance connectivity between downtown and regional destinations. Autonomous boats are envisioned to play a role in improving access to the North Shore, offering greater speed, flexibility, and precision navigation without the need for additional costly and ecologically impactful infrastructure projects such as bridges and tunnels.  Similarly, there is potential for increased use of aerial vehicles providing on-demand local transport for goods, residents, and tourists alike, building off the existing presence of the Harbour Air and Helijet services. This, coupled with proposals and ongoing discussions around the enhancement of existing metro and new regional rail connections primes the site to become an important hub within the city.   

Urban transport serves as the lifeblood of the city, with transit hubs generating pedestrian activity, vibrancy, and increased land value. To maximize the potential of this new urban quarter, it is essential that the transportation functions are complemented by a well-designed, networked public realm. This public realm should be animated by a diverse array of functions to foster the organic evolution of 24-hour city life which can enable the city to develop in a dynamic and resilient manner.

“Leveraging autonomous technologies not only enhances mobility but could enable Vancouver's central waterfront to evolve into a dynamic nexus of innovation, sustainability, and inclusivity.” – Bahar Namaki Araghi, Arup

The proposal conceives a contextual urbanism that embraces the existing urban grid and reflects the density, materiality, and rhythm of existing streetscapes, creating a permeable neighbourhood with visual connectivity to the harbour and North Shore Mountains. Major streets will end at piers, connecting city and sea, and aiding in wayfinding. Laterally, the shoreline is unified with a ribbon of coastal parks proposed to be accessible at both high and low tide, enabling a sense of connection with the natural environment and providing an extension to the popular seawall promenade that passes through Coal Harbour and connects to Stanley Park. Urban flood defences and existing stormwater management systems can also be improved through green infrastructure, creating cleaner, more accessible waterfront habitats.

In today's cities, there are few remaining parts of the public realm where people from all walks of life can meet and interact face-to-face. The few urban spaces where this still occurs, such as waterfronts and transit hubs, now take on an outsized importance in promoting social cohesion by facilitating chance encounters and casual interactions between diverse groups and fostering meaningful connections across social divides. They provide a neutral ground where people can organically mingle, observe one another, and build familiarity across social boundaries. Vancouver’s Central Waterfront has the potential to take on a formative societal role as one of these key shared urban spaces.

“In an increasingly atomized and virtual world, there remain few parts of the city where people from all walks of life mix, the places where this social interfacing occurs now take on heightened significance as sites of community-building and civic engagement. Fostering the vitality and accessibility of these convergence points in the urban fabric should be a priority for city planning and design.” – Matthew Donkersley, Farrells

The new waterfront’s character should embody the region’s rich and varied heritage, showcasing and celebrating cultural and geographical context in a multitude of ways – from the built form to festivals. The integration of creative, cultural, and community facilities can allow for the city’s values and identity to be brought to the forefront of the urban experience, cultivating a unique sense of place.

Aside from public spaces and venues, the proposal includes new homes and workplaces, helping respond to Canada’s housing shortage and fostering a sense of ownership in the neighbourhood. With a residential population that has a vested interest in the community, aspects such as safety, cleanliness, landscaping, and overall upkeep would benefit.

Vancouver's thriving tech, film, and creative industries could also benefit from the addition of creative office spaces tailored to their needs in a defined locale, supporting their collaborative and innovative nature while remaining integrated with the broader downtown ecosystem.

   “Vancouver, already recognized for its walkability and commitment to transit, has the potential to become a leading precedent for North American cities aspiring to implement sustainable and human-centric urban development.” – Patrick Yue, Farrells

The design team hopes that the ideas in this proposal will resonate beyond the waterfront site and promote dialogue on broader issues of urban character and identity, addressing important questions such as how the built environment might embrace Indigenous reconciliation efforts, and the region’s rich cultural heritage, in genuinely meaningful ways. By visually articulating ideas into built form, the team believes that the subject of the waterfront’s future development can be more accessible to everyone. As such, the current proposal is conceived as a tangible “sandbox” for all to engage with.

“As architects we are uniquely positioned to synthesise many different views into built form. We hope this proposal can expand the scope of what people believe may be possible and provide a vehicle for further thought, debate and ideas for this important part of the city.” – Matthew Donkersley, Farrells

Ultimately it is hoped that the dialogue that this vision generates will encourage the value of this stretch of waterfront to be universally recognised and offer further motivation for its development as an integral part of Vancouver’s Urban Experience.