| The sloped
character of the Brentwood site has provoked our reconsideration
of the relationship between traditional neighbourhood design
and ecologically sustainable development. Like links in a chain,
the community and the land must work in circles and cycles.
The circle is the walkable radius from the transit centre and
the cycle is the continuous looping of energy and resource flows
on the site. All too often planners, engineers, and environmentalists
focus on either urbanism or site-specific ecology, rarely integrating
the two in a synergistic way. We have attempted to bring together
the best of traditional urbanism and industrial ecology. We
have looked at the stationary ground of human community as well
as the dynamic loops, chains, and cycles of the natural world.
Some of the more static and rigid conventions of place making
often overshadow the more transient and ineffable, resulting
in neither good urbanism nor good ecology.
For example, on the surface, Vancouver is awash in annual
rainfall, but there is a serious shortage of water from the
reservoirs during the summer months. This apparent contradiction
can be resolved through design. Often, surprisingly lowtech
and obvious solutions are overlooked. Accordingly, we advance
the following strategies.
Save The Land: Use Transit
We first focused on transit and quickly
realized that we wanted to maximize development within the
400 metre, or five-minute, walking distance to each of the
three stations. In the best of all possible worlds all development
would be within these circles, and the surrounding area would
be left as open space or agricultural land.
Denser at the Centre
Our second realization was that development within the 400
metre radius should be denser at the centre than at the periphery,
especially around the transit stops.
Gravity on Our Side
Our third realization was that the land between the Lougheed
transit line and Still Creek was connected by gravity: the
continuous slope allowed great potential for tapping natural
flows and systems. Specifically this slope made channeling,
capturing, and treating stormwater runoff and sewage effluent
both easy and obvious.
Cirque de Soleil
Our fourth realization was that the south-facing slope was
conducive to the collection of solar radiation and to the
circular flows of energy and resources.
Head in the Clouds, Feet in the Mud
Based on these realizations we evolved a strategy whereby
we treated the top of the slope very differently than we did
the valley floor. North of Lougheed Highway we established
the commercial and civic core of the community, including
a limited number of residential towers. On the slope between
Lougheed Highway and Still Creek we located all the ground-related
housing, and at the foot of the hill we developed a bioengineering
zone. This applied especially to Brentwood Slopes, the central
and largest of the three communities we created.
Continuous Loops
In order to capitalize on the topography we positioned a series
of biological facilities along the valley floor and a district
heating plant at the centre of the community (in the reconceived
Brentwood Mall). At the bottom we envision a “Crystal Palace,”
a large working greenhouse in which we will extract both methane
gas and low-grade heat from sewer effluent as well as grow
hydroponic fruits and vegetables. A heat-pump upgrades the
heat to a temperature that is useful for district heating.
This heat is then pumped up the grade to the central plant
where it is supplemented by heat from a fuel cell and waste
heat from neighbouring commercial buildings. While producing
hot and chilled water,the central plant also cogenerates electricity.
The sewer effluent is pumped from the Crystal Palace to primary
treatment ponds in the nearby cloverleaf of the TransCanada
Highway, from which it flows to a constructed wetland for
purification. From there it joins the stormwater runoff, which
has coursed down the slope and been collected in a large swale
north of the railroad tracks and then directed under the rail
bed to a large wetland.
Towers at the Top
In order to take advantage of the panorama across the Brunette
watershed towards Metrotown and provide good views for most
residential units, construction of residential towers will
be limited to the slope above Lougheed Highway.
A Cistern in Every Yard
In order to reduce runoff and to conserve water supplies,
each ground-related unit will be required (or induced by incentives)
to utilize rainwater for domestic consumption. A backyard
cistern of up to 2,000 cubic feet in volume would collect
rainwater from the roof during the rainy months — water that
would then be used for flushing and watering the garden. Stored
water could be treated with relatively inexpensive, ion purifiers
so that it could also be used for drinking, cooking, and bathing.
A Complete Community
A rich mix of socioeconomic and age groups is encouraged by
the provision of a variety of housing types, costs, and sizes,
including hundreds of accessory units above lane garages.
The job/housing balance is enhanced by providing job sites
for a range of occupation types. Additionally, within walking
distance of the residential units are entertainment, recreation,
social and civic activities, and places of retreat and worship.
From agriculture to light industry, from opera to massage,
from automobile dealerships to bicycle shops, from live/work
housing to hotel hospitality, and from big-box to boutique,
Brentwood Slopes is the first new vibrant town centre in the
Greater Vancouver Region.
We have attempted to deal with the planning exigencies normally
played out on the ground as well as with the deeper, more
systemic (albeit hidden and transient) forces impinging on
the site. In short, we have tried to deal with the magic and
beauty of surface and form while also delving into the deeper
mysteries of the earth.
|
