Kawaki Waterfront Park (The Pier at London Landing)
Richmond BC
The Pier at London Landing is a multi-use suburban village development with residential units, commercial space, live-work studios, and a large community amenity spilling into a park and plaza. The unique Kawaki Waterfront park is one of few places where people can access land on the outside of the city’s flood protection dike. By shaping the interaction between the waterfront and the newly built village, visitors can connect easily with the rivers’ rich natural habitat while enjoying a pleasant place to socialize.
Balancing flood protection engineering while preserving the existing foreshore habitat was essential. Because of the infrastructure, stringent requirements challenged us to build something utilitarian without compromising the aesthetics of a well-designed landscape. To create a park that blended naturally with the dike pushed us to envision a functional landscape, but one which wouldn’t feel overly engineered. The hybrid nature of our profession, merging science with art and nature with humanity, was overtly put to the test.
The resulting space functions as both a continuation of the dike trail and a wide overlook plaza. A soft transition billows to the lower lawn, which contrasts an architectural lookout clad in corten steel, which juts out over the lower park. This prow-like lookout pays homage to the Nakade Brothers boat building that stood prior to the Japanese internment.
Several winding pathways swoop along the top bank of the foreshore, immersing the walker in a lovely and dramatic landscape of perennials and lush grasses. This walkway then connects to a large pre-existing wooden pier, from which visitors can access the river. The lower lawn boasts a unique play area, consisting of two small trampolines and a scattering of boat buoys. It has been lovingly coined The Jumping Park, and wildly embraced by visitors and residents alike.
There now exists a sublime focus on the beauty of the river, pier, and foreshore – which were always present – merely buried by seemingly inconsequential landscape and an industrial looking waterfront. The hidden beauty of Kawaki Waterfront Park was revealed in a most dynamic way, and remains a delightful example of our craft at work.
