PFS wins Major Planning Project in Foshan, China

PFS Studio has been awarded a major Landscape Architecture and Planning project in Foshan, China.

The BC Government released the following press release on May 10, 2016.

Foshan Land Planning Bureau and PFS Studio ( Landscape & Urban Design) – With the strong support of B.C.’s Trade and Investment representative in Guangzhou, PFS Studio has won the bidding for a major Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Project in Foshan.  Foshan Land Planning Bureau signed a US$2.99-million trade deal with PFS Studio in Vancouver to undertake the planning and design that will transform a large expanse of the city’s waterfront and associate development.  Both Foshan and PFS Studio expect this project to become a new model for city building, sustainability and environmentally sensitive design as well as a strong example of business cooperation between Guangdong and British Columbia.

To see the full press release click here.

Governor General’s Medal in Architecture

 

Bridgepoint Active Healthcare in Toronto was awarded a Royal Architecture Institute of Canada (RAIC) Governor General’s Medal in Architecture. Bridgepoint Health is Toronto’s first hospital to receive a LEED Silver Rating.

PFS Studio’s Jeffrey Staates and team worked with a complex team including Stantec Architecture/ KPMB Architects and HDR Architecture to create an innovative and inclusive healthcare environment.

PFS was responsible for the Urban Design and Landscape Architecture of this project, integrating the public realm of the campus  with the neighbourhood  and Riverdale Park, and creating a new park setting for the historic Don Jail.

“The interior and exterior spaces join to promote health, with areas for outdoor meeting, retreating and conversation.  The former jail at the centre of the site opens onto public gathering space; connecting the grounds with the wider world.” Juror

You can read the full article by clicking here.

 

 

Award for Planning Excellence

Zibi at Chaudiere Island, Ottawa,  just won the Canadian Institute for Planners (CIP) Award for Planning Excellence.

PFS Studio’s, Jeffrey Staates and team, worked alongside with Windmill Development Group, Perkins + Will and FOTENN Planning + Design, to create a “One Planet Community” framework that guides sustainability and eco-friendly planning through a series of key design principles.

PFS was responsible for creating the public open space master plan, consisted of a series of nine interconnected neighbourhoods that are each focused around an integrated network of public squares, adaptive reuse of heritage resources, new waterfront parks, and pedestrian access routes.

You can read the full article by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Windmill Development Group

 

Urban Design Award for Telus Garden

A City of Vancouver Urban Design Award was presented to Telus Garden in the category of Urban Elements.

Projects are chosen for their contribution to the overall experience of design in the city. The jury carefully considers the design of public spaces and how buildings interact with these spaces.

PFS Studio was responsible for the public plaza, alley and terrace designs for this Leed Platinum project.

You can read more about the awards here.

Photo by Ed White Photographics.

 

Dialogues on Urbanization: Emerging Landscapes

PFS Studio has been asked to present Toronto’s Sherbourne Common at Dialogues on Urbanization: Emerging Landscapes, a prestigious international exhibition at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. The exhibition examines landscape architecture in the age of planetary urbanization.

Sherbourne Common has been paired with a work by Parallax Landscape in the category Leveraging Regional Resources. Our display focused on Sherbourne Common as both major civic amenity and poetic stormwater treatment infrastructure for the East Bayfront precinct.

Sherbourne Common: Water is celebrated in all of its forms by highlighting tactile, visual and acoustic effects

About the Exibition
Over the past decade, the design disciplines have increasingly adapted their research and design methods in response to the complexity and speed of urbanization in the 21st century. “Dialogues on Urbanization: Emerging Landscapes” takes stock of recent disciplinary developments in research methods, design strategies, and representational modes in landscape architecture and urbanism through pairing eleven speculative and eleven built projects. Diverse in geography and content, each pair addresses a common issue stemming from 21st-century processes of urbanization. From flood mitigation strategies in Seoul to freight-based settlements in the Illinois Fox River Valley, “Dialogues on Urbanization” underscores landscape architecture’s considerable contribution towards reimagining urban systems such as mobility networks, agricultural production, and waste flows, at multiple scales, from the planetary to the hyper-local.

Dialogues on Urbanization: Emerging Landscapes opened on March 23rd, 2015.

Sherbourne Common Named one of the Top 10 World Class Landscape Architecture Projects for 2014

Our multi-award winning open space, Sherbourne Common, the iconic waterfront park along Lake Ontario in downtown Toronto, has won yet another prestigious award: it has been named one of the top 10 World Class Landscape Architecture Projects of 2014. PFS Studio is honored to receive this distinction from The Landscape Architects Network (LAN).

Image courtesy of Waterfront Toronto

Here’s what LAN has to say:
Top 10 World Class Landscape Architecture Projects of 2014
Every year, the world becomes home to new, innovative projects in landscape architecture. And every year, the designers behind these projects eagerly await recognition for their hard work. Looking at new technology, public attitudes toward the space, and awards received, the following list is a showcase of some of the best of 2014.

Sherbourne Common, Toronto, Ontario — PFS Studio
As a winner of the 2013 ASLA Honor Award for Design, this space has been around for more than a year. However, it continued to make headlines throughout 2014. Sherbourne Common, a formerly neglected brownfield site on Toronto’s waterfront, combines a storm water treatment facility with landscape, architecture, engineering, and public art to provide an outdoor living room for the new residents of the East Bayfront community.

Click here to read the full article.

Ken Spencer Science Park

 

Photos by Scott Massey

 

Did you know that the average BC family produces 2028 kilograms of waste annually?

Telus World of Science’s Ken Spencer Science Park, designed by PFS, is an active learning landscape located in the heart of False Creek. Woven together by native biotopes, this educational landscape hosts a collection of interactive exhibits which focus on six themes of sustainability: energy, food, housing, transportation, waste and water.

Come check it out and see if you have what it takes to lift 2028 kilograms of waste! And while you’re there, be sure to stop by the food exhibit and say hello to the resident chickens.

University of Manitoba Design Competition

PFS Studio teamed up with Perkins + Will and 1X1 Architecture for Visionary (re)Generation, an International Design Competition to create a vision and a conceptual campus plan for the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. We are thrilled that our submission, titled ‘Endaayang’, came in second place.

‘Endaayang’ creates a vibrant and dynamic community which emerges from, and merges with, the existing campus. A new large-scale regional river park retains existing trees, creates a buffer to neighbouring precincts, and offers a range of activities including a series of programmatic elements that incorporate local culture. The integrated open space network includes stormwater-conducting eco-corridors adjacent to new developments which are a crucial part of the connective strategy.

Click here for details on the top four submissions.

PFS in Landscapes Paysages

Have you seen the fall issue of Landscapes Paysages?

PFS Studio’s Nathan Brightbill is guest editor along with Ryan James (you can read their introduction here), and our own Nicole Taddune was a contributing writer.

In her article “Point Grey: Stormwater Ambassador”, Nicole discusses the University of British Columbia’s evolving view of stormwater management and PFS Studio’s role in framing that view.

“In the past, stormwater was considered a nuisance to be eliminated as quickly as possible. Now it is seen, instead, as a resource to be utilized and celebrated.”

Nicole discusses the use of stormwater in three campus projects: University Boulevard Terraces, Buchanan Courtyards and Fairview Commons.

Left: University Boulevard Stormwater Terraces, Photo by Krista Jahnke © 2012 Krista Jahnke. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be copied, adapted, distributed, or electronically posted without the written permission of krista jahnke | photography + design |
Right: Buchanan Courtyard, Photo by (c) Nic Lehoux for PFS Studio

 

“The use of water to create mesmerizing and engaging focal points is not new, but at UBC today, stormwater that might have otherwise gone unnoticed or unused has become an invaluable resource. By using stormwater as a primary water source, designers have created public spaces that function as ambassadors of sustainability and resource management. Taken together, these beautiful landscapes shape a uniquely interesting campus character.”

– Nicole Taddune

Read the whole article here.

Tracking A Green Roof

Building a green roof over an art gallery and in a climate that sees 150 days of rainfall a year might sound like a recipe for disaster – but Seattle’s green roof on the 17th floor of the Russell Investment Centre (formerly Washington Mutual and Chase Centre) has withstood the test of time.

The November/December issue of Green Building and Design features an expansive roof garden designed by PFS Studio. The article, entitled “Analytics: Tracking a Green Roof” aims to see how this 23,000 square foot roof has weathered the rain and winds, and how it’s impacted the building below.  The conclusion: “After seven years, the roof is leak-free, the plants are thriving, and it’s one of the most popular spots in the city.”

Photo by George White Photography

 

The design for this roof top oasis called for “a diverse plant system that would be attractive to employees, effectively turning the concept of the windowless employee lunchroom inside out.”

Read the whole story here.

About the design
PFS’s concept integrates elements that relay the story about the center, its local origins and the community it serves. The project presented a rare opportunity to reference the varied and unique landscapes of Washington State, from its coastal beaches to the Olympic and Cascade ranges and the interior plateau, with nearly two-thirds of the area planted in predominantly drought-tolerant and native plant species.