Discipline : Communication & Branding
Categories :
Environmental Design / Signage
: Gold certification
At the edge of the town of Bedford in Quebec’s Estrie region, an industrial byproduct site has been transformed into a multi-purpose park accessible year-round. Shaped by 13 years of collaboration, community engagement, and ecological foresight, this project reclaims more than 30 million tonnes of inert black shale produced by Graymont’s adjacent quarry, reshaping it into three vegetated hills, public spaces, and recreational destination: Bedford Heritage Park. Spanning 17 hectares, the site needed a clear wayfinding to create a cohesive and accessible experience.
The park now offers a dynamic and inclusive landscape: a pavilion welcomes visitors while an accessible splash pad and playground offer family-friendly amenities, each clearly identified. Walking trails wind through the park, crossing several bridges and leading to a natural amphitheatre and the drawcard of an elevated lookout for its panoramic views.
Locally inspired signage, curved benches, and angular pathways give the park a strong spatial identity while enmeshing itself respectfully with the natural environment. The iconography was custom-designed to meet the site’s specific needs, while simple yet effective regulatory signage is accompanied by QR codes that provide easy access to additional information.
At the summit, an orientation table and a semicircular platform with an integrated bench were specially designed to offer visitors a place for rest and contemplation. This stopping point not only provides sweeping views—extending to the American mountain ranges—but also helps visitors better understand the regional topography through thoughtfully integrated interpretive content.
The result is a park that harmonizes with ongoing quarry operations while offering ecological continuity and civic value. It integrates tourism, recreation, education, and environmental recovery into a cohesive public realm framed by the region’s evolving identity—a model for how long-term thinking and community partnership can regenerate post-industrial land into a legacy landscape.
