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First announced in 2015, the Vancouver Art Gallery's North Plaza Redevelopment has kicked off construction, with work crews busy excavating the site in preparation for its imminent transformation. Designed jointly by Nick Milkovich Architects, Hapa Collaborative, and Matthew Soules Architecture for the Vancouver Art Gallery and the City of Vancouver, the North Plaza Redevelopment will reimagine the space as a much more inviting public plaza. The current arrangement of manicured grass lawns crisscrossed with symmetrical paved walkways and a central water fountain will be covered by new paving stones, and the square will be outfitted with ample seating and bordered by a lush canopy of maple trees.
While some may decry the loss of green space, the addition of more than a dozen mature maple trees to the plaza will go a long way to remedy the situation, while continuing the tradition of maple-tree-lined streets in the area. More than this, the new arrangement will provide far more usable space for people to sit and enjoy the square. The former lawns, often over trampled and muddy, were never as welcoming as such a space ought to be.
Shady and inviting, the addition of mature trees and ample tables and chairs to the plaza will help recreate the public space as one where museum visitors, local office workers, and passersby will feel enticed to sit and take a break or eat their lunch on a sunny day. The bustling urban surroundings that envelop the Vancouver Art Gallery will provide more than enough regular users to make the case for the present redevelopment.
Beyond the maple trees and benches, the current Howe Street bus stop will be fully rebuilt, complete with a new bus shelter and accompanying seating, making it a vast improvement over the present configuration consisting of no more than a sign post.
Doubling as additional public seating, the bus shelter will improve the Vancouver Art Gallery's connection to public transit. The inclusion of a proper bus stop will boost the public profile of the gallery among transit users who will no longer be forced to stand and wait in the rain, a necessity to be sure in rain-heavy Vancouver.
Case in point, the above construction shot reveals the state of progress to date, with the presence of heavy rain obvious in the frame as workers press on with their task undeterred. Expected to wrap up during 2018, the North Plaza Redevelopment will be a welcome improvement to the Vancouver Art Gallery.
SkyriseVancouver will be sure to return to this project as progress continues. For more information, check out the associated Database file and Forum thread, and as always, feel free to join the conversation in the comments section below.
