Recently I took a stroll through the now open Athletes Village and the Southeast False Creek neighbourhood. I’ve heard a number of opinions about the neighbourhood and people are pretty quick to slam it but I must say, from a design perspective I think the community is wonderful. I will leave all political opinions aside. This entry is purely about design and neighbourhood rather than dealing with political hot buttons such as financing and social housing.
I should first admit that I have had the opportunity to learn a great deal about the neighbourhood as a whole. I have been involved in the James community by Cressey Development Group in southeast false creek and so I’ve had to get acquainted with the city process and studies. Even in my early research, I was quite impressed with the lengths of time and energy that has gone into planning such a high profile neighbourhood. Here are some links if you are interested in more info:
If you take the time to go through some of this material, you will find that the city went through and took the best elements of Vancouver’s most beloved neighbourhoods and tried to implement it into this neighbourhood. Design, materials, sustainability, landscaping, public art, heritage conservation, walkability, energy, and legacy are all elements thoroughly explored by the city. When a bit more of the broader neighbourhood is completed, I have no doubt that this will be one of the premier communities in the Lower Mainland.
Walking through Athlete’s Village and the rest of the neighbourhood currently in place, it is amazing to see all the planning come to life. I encourage you to walk through it. Get an ice cream cone from Mario’s Gelati (who has survived the construction) and experience the community firsthand. Notice the details, the interaction of the seawall and the main plaza, the landscaping throughout and in between the buildings, the lighting details, the paving details in the streets, athletic silhouettes carved into the backrests of benches, and the amount of public art. Revel in the sensory buffet of various types of glazing opposite stone work, brick work, balcony details, colours and more which make every building unique. Whether you love or hate the aesthetics of each building, appreciate the complimentary variation. Walk through to Hinge Park and appreciate the city and mountain views. Keep walking and understand that this type of execution will continue past James, Foundry, Exchange, and Maynards Block. Connect back to the seawall by walking by the New Energy Utility plant and stroll along the gorgeous seawall. Understand that the quality of Athlete’s Village in terms of the pedestrian experience is only a quarter of what will be when development is completed.
You may find a few things which perhaps could have been done differently or better (the recreation centre in my mind has a few issues for example) – but considering the timeline for building and that hindsight is always 20/20, I believe that this neighbourhood is something we all will be able to be proud of in the end. We just need to give it a chance.
Suzana Goncalves
