QUARTERS DOWNTOWN STREETSCAPE

The vision for The Quarters Downtown Streetscape was for a vibrant, healthy community that respects the unique character of existing neighbourhoods while welcoming new residents and new spaces.

Client: City of Edmonton

Location: Edmonton, Alberta

Project Type: Transportation

Connecting the Quarters

In 2012, ISL began work on the first phase of the Quarters redevelopment, which included the complete reconstruction of 96 Street titled the “Armature.” The Armature is the central focal point of the Quarters redevelopment and is a pedestrian focused green street. The Armature connects the neighbourhood to the North Saskatchewan River Valley and sets the stage for the type of developments that will create the remaining four
districts.

This was developed as a multidisciplinary project that utilized the expertise of ISL’s transportation, landscape architecture and structural disciplines, along with a complement of expertise from its key subconsultants.

The Armature is encompassed by mixed use developments providing commercial/retail frontages with residences in the stories above. The City is utilizing a Community Revitalization Levy as a means of financing the infrastructure improvements required to facilitate private developments.

The transformation of an aging urban area provided the opportunity for a holistic design approach that embedded interesting and innovative social, economic and sustainable components into the project. The design direction of the Quarters and the construction of the first phase, the Armature, has developed a solid blueprint for designing a space that promotes social activity, raises the bar on sustainable options and provides the impetus for a community to organically develop and become a vibrant environment.

The construction of a project with these sustainability features comes with a host of challenges for implementation. Extensive planning of utility relocations, weather proofing construction techniques implemented in partnership with the contractor for the installation of the bio-filtration beds, as well as simultaneous construction of a very intensive surfacing design added to the project complexity.

Successfully completed on time and on budget, Phase 1 of the Quarters redevelopment, the Armature, has accomplished what it set out to do. It has realized the City of Edmonton’s vision to redefine an aging neighbourhood.