Sustainability Street Project

The original goal for Sustainability Street was to transform Stores Road from a utilitarian corridor to a pedestrian oriented promenade between Main Mall and West Mall on the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Point Grey Campus. More than just a street, the resultant redevelopment of the site has transformed the public realm into an academic resource for the campus. Outdoor areas  highlight the connections between ecosystems, infrastructure, and the urban environment while showcasing innovations in sustainability.

In May 2005, the UBC Design Centre for Sustainability organized a multi-stakeholder charrette to provide direction for the Sustainability Street Project. The ideas that emerged from this charrette formed the basis for the conceptual vision for Sustainability Street.

The project is defined by two phases. Phase One, completed in 2006, includes the pedestrian promenade and stormwater management system. The second phase anticipates a connection with the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) building, due to be completed in 2011, with Sustainability Street providing stormwater management, waste water treatment and geothermal energy for heating and cooling of the CIRS building. The aim is to create the world’s first closed-loop system of water recycling and re-use.

The design of phase one incorporates recycled and re-used materials: granite used in paving, weirs, and gabion benches came from the Vancouver College of Theology; concrete used for pathways contains thirty to forty percent re-used fly ash; and, wood was milled locally from trees felled on campus. The site uses locally appropriate and native plant species to provide habitat.

Rainwater is managed with a surface based rainwater management system. The streams and pools are controlled by weirs and water bars. Rainwater from surface runoff and downspouts from several buildings along the road will feed a permanent pool near the new CIRS building. This pool will be connected to the deep aquifer allowing water to reenter the natural hydrological cycle without eroding the sandy cliffs along the western edge of Point Grey.

The Sustainability Street Project incorporates both informal and formal learning opportunities. Interpretive signage is integrated into the landscape and an information kiosk will be installed. The meandering path creates an amphitheatre and a mound, both of which can serve as outdoor classrooms.

This street also showcases how UBC is incorporating sustainability into daily operations. The plantings provide a learning space for maintenance and use compost produced from campus waste. A Free Market is proposed for outside the Operations Annex to provide a location for surplus goods to be distributed to the public. Sustainability Street demonstrates how natural systems, infrastructure and urban environments can be designed and built as a cohesive, functioning system.

Tours: Open to the public.

This post was imported from the 'Greater Vancouver Green Guide', it's part of the 'Green Guide Portal' to the Green Building Brain