Halifax Regional Municipality
Halifax Regional Municipality
Halifax, the capital city of Nova Scotia, is located on the East Coast of Canada on the Atlantic Ocean. A major business centre, it’s also known for its maritime history. Halifax is located within the traditional ancestral lands of the Mi'kmaq indigenous peoples, known as Mi'kma'ki. The first permanent European settlement in the region was on the Halifax Peninsula, established in 1749. The city is known for the devastating explosion, on December 1917, when the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship carrying munitions, collided with the Belgian Relief vessel SS Imo resulting in the largest artificial explosion before the development of nuclear weapons.
Population: 431,479 (2017, United Nations)
Past Work:
Sackville Drive Gateway Signage
Integrated Wayfinding Strategy
Recent work
Atlantic Canada’s first shared streets
In the heart of downtown Halifax's entertainment district, Argyle Street is an active and inviting space for pedestrians and cyclists alike. The first shared street in Atlantic Canada, Argyle Street strives to put the automobile second to the pedestrian and cyclist experience. Argyle patterns in the concrete pavers and signage create a pedestrian-oriented feel, healthy, mature trees are encouraged by “Silva” cells, and trench drains along with delicate grading allow the street to shed water but provide a continuous surface. The final result balances fun and function.
The design accommodates a range of uses from street festivals, concerts, restaurant patios, and transportation. The project has been so well received by the community that the street is now closed to vehicular traffic on summer weekends.
Status
2016 - Design
2017 - Construction
Our Role
Prime Consultant - Landscape Architecture, Engineering/ Transportation, Urban Design, Wayfinding
Client
Halifax Regional Municipality
Location
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Awards
2017 - The Coast Best of Halifax Awards, Best Effort to Improve Halifax (Silver)
2017 - Streetsblog USA, Peoples Choice: Best Urban Street Transformation of 2017
2018 - International Making Cities Livable Design Awards: Final Jury Candidate, Built Work
2018 - Atlantic Planners Institute: Excellence in Planning, Physical Plans and Design
2018 - International Downtown Association: Pinnacle Award
2018 - The Coast Best of Halifax Awards: Best Thing to Happen to Halifax in the Past Year (Gold)
2020 - APALA Award of Excellence: Large-Scale Landscape Designed by a Landscape Architect
Site as Stage
Halifax Regional Municipality chose our firm to design a master plan for the park’s revitalization and prepare construction drawings for the first phase of redevelopment. Instead of simply refurbishing the space and putting all of the program elements back in their original place, we worked with the site’s topography to reorganize and reorient the space to better accommodate contemporary uses.
Phase One includes the modernization of the southern portion of the park by transforming it into a series of terraces for play, relaxation, and performance. The introduction of continuous granite walls allows for flat lawns and amphitheatre-style seating around a new plaza. This infrastructure also delineates different park zones - such as playgrounds - without the need for traditional fencing, which was previously a major obstruction. Continuous bands of LED light will illuminate the base of the walls and give the park a welcoming presence at night. The intent is for the space to host more activities after dark and be the public anchor at the southern gateway to downtown. High-end treatments evoke a sense of permanence and care, solidifying Peace and Friendship Park as an important public open space in the city, one that is worthy of investment.
This project was formerly named Edward Cornwallis Park. The Halifax Regional Municipality recognizes the negative impact that Edward Cornwallis had on First Nations cultures, specifically the Mi’kmaw of Nova Scotia. Temporarily renamed Peace and Friendship Park, the space awaits a new name, part of HRM’s work with the Mi’kmaw community to generate a list of new potential names for streets and other civic assets.
Status
2015 (masterplan)
2016 (Ph. 1 design & construciton)
2017 (Ph. 2 design & construction)
2017 (Ph. 3 design)
2018 (Ph. 3 construction)
2018 (Ph. 4 design)
Our Role
Landscape Architecture
Client
Halifax Regional Municipality
Location
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Navigating spaces
Alderney Gate is a library, office complex, market, public building and transportation hub situated on the Halifax waterfront. Made up of several connected buildings on a challenging site, you must navigate pedways, railway tracks, stairs, elevators and escalators to get from one area to another.
We worked with the Halifax Regional Municipality to develop a comprehensive wayfinding system for the series of buildings. Complexities of the project included maintaining existing tenant branding, connecting the ferry and bus terminals, and highlighting accessible routes in a building that was not designed with accessibility in mind.
Through the course of the project we worked closely with stakeholder groups, performed detailed studies of pedestrian flow and routes through the building. The project is HRM’s first planned interior wayfinding system that will increase user satisfaction and efficient navigation of the site.
Status
2018 (design)
2019 (build)
Our Role
Wayfinding
Client
Halifax Regional Municipality
Location
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Transforming Halifax’s Urban Streetscape
In collaboration with DesignPoint Engineering, Electec Engineering, and BA Group, we developed a functional plan and schematic streetscape design for Spring Garden Road in Halifax. The project transforms four central downtown blocks and enhances the sreet as Atlantic Canada’s most vibrant urban retail destination.
Our design for Spring Garden Road imagines the street as a linear garden, creating a green link between the cherished park spaces along the corridor including the Halifax Public Gardens and Grafton Park. Widened sidewalks with an intricate paver pattern and new amenities such as custom bus shelters, cluster seating, and lighting, will create high-quality social spaces that people will want to slow down and enjoy. Spring Garden will be Nova Scotia’s first Urban Green Stormwater Street with bioretention rain gardens and trees in stormwater capture soil cell systems that will make the street both operative and beautiful.
Status
2018–2019 (design)
Our Role
Landscape Architecture
Client
Halifax Regional Municipality
Location
Halifax, Nova Scotia
A legacy remembered 100 years later
In 1917, the collision of two ships in the Halifax Harbour resulted in an unprecedented explosion— the largest before the advent of nuclear weapons—that dramatically changed the history of a city and country. With an upcoming 100th Anniversary of the Halifax Explosion, the city felt it was an opportunity to refresh the park to improve the grounds for the centennial commemoration, and reflect the diversity of current community needs and interests.
In 2014, with the approaching centenary of the Halifax Explosion, the Halifax Regional Municipality commissioned us to craft a long-range vision and design concept for the park. The team was tasked with balancing the needs of the local community and objectives for improving the park while significantly enhancing the memorial capacity of Fort Needham as an important regional park destination for the city, province and nation.
In the spring of 2016, we were hired to complete the detailed design for the implementation of the first phase of the masterplan for Fort Needham Park. The detailed design strikes a balance between ceremonial, interpretive, and recreational / everyday functions, incorporating elements of the Halifax Explosion narrative into the landscape.
Material choices such as cor-ten steel, precast concrete, and wood are used throughout the site, in well thought-out details that reference the ships that collided on December 6, 1917. Improved circulation throughout the site makes the site more accessible for all users. A new plaza around the 1984 Bell Tower monument provides an improved gathering place for the annual explosion ceremony that takes place at the park.
Finally, interpretive lighting on the Bell Tower conveys the explosion narrative through colour and undulating light on a nightly basis.
Status
2014–15 (masterplan)
2016–17 (detailed design & phase 1 construction)
Our Role
Planning, Landscape Architecture, Interpretive Planning & Design
Client
Halifax Regional Municipality
Location
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Awards
2017- Atlantic Planning Institute - Award of Planning Excellence, Physical Plans & Design
2018 - Applied Arts Magazine: Community Award
2018 - Halifax Urban Design Awards: Award for Excellence in Civic Design
2018 - BOCSIes: Premier Award, Unique Signs
2019 - APALA Award of Excellence