Southlands in Transition

The Southlands Public Design Charrette produced two main plans for further consideration. Although the plans are similar in the sense that they use approximately the same amount of land, there are some key differences.

Map Sweep RenderThe Elongated "Sweep" Plan

The Sweep Plan frames a contiguous block of agricultural land to the north and provides a continuous urban ribbon that connects the existing Tsawwassen community to the west with the Boundary Bay neighbourhood. This plan differs from the Tuck Plan by connecting the urbanized area directly to Boundary Bay Road and the new sports complex.

The strong connections to and from Boundary Bay mean the Market Square will attractand provide more convenient connections for Boundary Bay residents who can enjoy and support the new neighbourhood centre.

The Sweep Plan also adds an additional storm water retention pond for agricultural use while creating pedestrian conenctions through and around it.

The Compact "Tuck" Plan

The Tuck Plan consolidates the new neighbourhood to the South while limiting connections to Boundary Bay Village. A near continuous band of green space comprising either protected forest (park) or active agricultural activity, surrounds the new neighbourhood. A direct connection to Boundary Bay Regional Park is created both for existing Tsawwassen residents to better access the beach, and for the new residents.

Unlike the Sweep Plan, stormwater for agricultural use is collected both in a lake at 56th Street and at points throughout the site.

The Canal Plan 

After the charrette we realized that none of the plans really explored Michael von Hausen’s idea of the urban agriculture fingers penetrating into the urbanism. We decided to sit down and improve on the von Hausen diagram and design a plan that would react accordingly. In turn we designed a plan that kept the high density urban core  of the development to the south side of the site along the high street, with the small slivers of agricultural land reaching the most urban areas. The agriculture fingers that penetrate into the urbanism, as the transition through the more urban begin to narrow as the urbanism widens accordingly. The Agriculture Precinct will be located along the main east west connector, in the more rural area attached directly to the large agricultural lands to the north. This will provide easy access for farmers to bring their produce but also allow for neighbouring communities to easily access the market. This plan also locates the the Land Trust all to one area to the north.