I've been intrigued by how we seem to be blurring the concepts of "private property" and "public space" in our cities. I will be exploring this idea in several posts.
First I will look at the idea of public use of private property. My first example is the private development Capital Park, and how public use has been enabled in it. In 2013 the BC Government, under Christy Clark, put a chunk of land near the BC Legislature on the market, attempting to generate revenue to balance government books.
Guidelines for redeveloping the land had been prepared years before that, and included public use, and integration with the James Bay neighbourhood. There was to be a public plaza, a library, commercial streetfront development, substantial underground parking, as well as extensive bicycle storage. When the guidelines were developed, according to one Victoria councillor, some people said "you'll never get a developer to honour these; you'll never see this developed".
Jawl Developments and Concert Properties purchased the land in 2013. Their plan, which Council approved in 2015, met or exceeded the guidelines developed two decades earlier. The first phase opened in 2017, and the last phases were completed in late 2021.
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| Capital Park concept that was approved by Council in 2015.The design was developed by Endall Elliot Associates Architecture Urban Design. Note the detail of the plaza facing the legislature, the triangular shaped building with waterfall which I featured in my January post on "Eternal Triangles". These have been replicated, although the plaza is much more open than depicted here. Source: https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/victoria-approves-capital-park-project-near-legislature-4620239 |
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The plaza at Capital Park, in front of the Good Earth cafe.
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One of the striking features of Capital Park is the amount of public access throughout the development. I've been exploring the relationship between the public space and private residences.
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| One of many public pathways through Capital Park. The photo shows how the heat dome and drought of last summer were hard on landscaping plants. |
Both the preceding photo and the one below show how water features have been used alongside the public pathways in a creative way. They not only provide interest to the walker, and to residents, but they also serve as "moats", separating the private spaces from public ones. These are far more aesthetic than fences, and just as effective.
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| Some of the interior public pathways, showing sitting benches which have been created as part of the landscape design. Visible also are some of the extensive water features in the development which separate public and private space. |
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| Another public pathway through Capital Park, with one of the old heritage buildings on the left. In this case a fence was the design solution to separate public and private. |
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| A view of two of the heritage houses which have been renovated as part of the development, and are now being rented. Note the use of the wood fence to demarcate the private space. For the newer buildings on the right hand side of the photo, the separation is created by a low concrete berm, then a landscaped bed, with the black slatted fence in the background. |
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| One of the locked accesses to the development's private parking. This is in the interior of the development, off a public pathway. |
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| Protecting the residential quality of Michigan Street was an important goal in the Capital Park plan. I think it's been achieved, although personally I find the whole development concrete-heavy. |
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| Another view showing how the water feature is used to separate areas used by the public from private space of residents. |
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| The new development in the foreground, with tree-lined Michigan Street in the background. This image illustrates how the black slatted fence looks straight-on. The fence separating unit decks is more opaque. |
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| Public space showing relationship to some of the renovated James Bay houses. |
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| One more view with the parking garage access in the background. |
I walk through Capital Park frequently, whenever I head towards downtown. I appreciate the public access through the development. Being able to shortcut through it saves me walking time, and also provides an interesting experience because of the contrast with other streets of James Bay.
As vegetation matures, I expect that Capital Park will begin to feel less "stark", and some of the rather sterile concrete features will be softened.
My next post will continue this exploration of "public and private" use of space.