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Laurel Greenway Masterplan
By : SHIFT Landscape Architecture
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Landscape & Territories
Categories : Concept / concept in landscape and/or urban development : Gold Certification
Categories : Urban Design / Civic Design Project : Silver Certification
LGW Master Plan
The Laurel Greenway Master Plan outlines an exciting vision, concept and approach to develop the Laurel Greenway, a nearly two-kilometre long linear park running through Uptown Waterloo, from Waterloo Park to Weber Street. The space generally follows the existing Laurel Trail, incorporating existing open space and the path of Laurel Creek.
The Master Plan is built on an extensive engagement and outreach effort that began in 2022, and sought input from a variety of interest groups, regulatory bodies, and the public, among others. The outcomes of that work highlighted the importance of the Greenway and identified many challenges, opportunities and needs to consider in its development.
The overall concept focuses on creating a continuous Greenway experience and connecting a series of spaces that provide amenities, enhance natural features, and support the function of the entire area. To achieve this, the Master Plan identifies design approaches and elements that can be implemented to ensure the Greenway supports a wide variety of programming and allows for a resilient landscape to grow.
As a large and complex area of land use, the Laurel Greenway will need to consider planning policy as a strategy for implementation. The Plan explores this and looks at how existing and proposed planning tools can be used to achieve the vision over time. Implementation approaches are also provided that explore where, when and why improvements may happen during the development of the Greenway.
Ultimately, the Laurel Greenway Master Plan sets out an ambitious way forward for this critical piece of the City’s public realm. In anticipation of the increased density planned for Uptown, the Greenway will become a destination that offers valuable parkland, but more importantly, provides a continuous, playful, and immersive public space for all to access and enjoy.
Public Engagement
Outreach and engagement were critical pieces of the Laurel Greenway Master Plan process from the beginning of the 2 year long project, and built on previous engagement that came from the Uptown Public Realm Strategy. Input from individuals, organizations and groups informed design and planning decisions to support a more complete user experience and understanding of what is needed from the public realm.
Engagement required dialog with interested groups and individuals, formal consultation sessions, and engagement periods throughout the course of the Laurel Greenway Master Plan process. SHIFT Landscape Architecture, in coordination with the City of Waterloo, hosted all consultation sessions.
Placing the Greenway
Many are familiar with the existing Laurel Trail, a paved trail route that runs through Uptown Waterloo. The Laurel Greenway area is an expansion of this trail: a linear park that surrounds the trail along its length. In other words, the Laurel Trail will form the foundation of the future Greenway.
This master plan organizes and improves many existing spaces along the trail and adds new connections within the landscape. The Greenway and trail wind through several areas with unique character and landscapes serving to stich all together in a holistic way – through landscape and public space.
The Greenway Today
In the early stages of the project, three distinct areas were identified that collectively make up the Greenway, all connected by the existing Laurel Trail. Running from Waterloo Park in the west, through Uptown, to Weber Street in the east, the sections each have a distinct character. To help identify the existing characteristics along the trail, each section was given a name. In the east is “the park”, “uptown” in the middle, and the “urban wild” section to the west. In planning the overall Laurel Greenway, the existing sections helped inform the overall master plan and design concept approach.
Master Plan Goals
- Evoke place and identity
- Establish a cohesive system
- Develop a safe experience
- Create a cultural landscape
- Build resilience and sustainability
- Cultivate living landscapes in Uptown Waterloo
Grounding the Greenway
The concept ‘Grounding the Greenway’ leverages existing spaces along the Greenway and allows for the introduction of new spaces, aiming to ground the Greenway in its place. This concept focuses on the implementation of integral greenspaces to define the path and provide spaces to enhance the human experience. From west to east, pockets of greenspace will be highlighted, framed and revealed to create a continuous identity for the public realm. These spaces draw on the culture, history, natural heritage and functional need of Uptown Waterloo and the surrounding area. As a foundation for the Greenway, vegetation, habitat and ecology would be framed and organized, promoting a healthy urban ecosystem that can be managed.
A Hierarchy of Spaces
As a tool to help achieve the Grounding the Greenway concept, potential new public areas within the site are classified within a hierarchy of spaces: Nook, Eddy, Fork, and Landing. The Laurel Trail is the thread that connects these pieces and would run through, around and adjacent to each space along the Greenway. By characterizing spaces on a hierarchy, it provides a general organization to the needs and potentials that the site-specific spaces warrant. This relates to potential elements such as the type and quantity of seating, furnishings, wayfinding, and size of dedicated space.
Design Elements
In implementing the Grounding the Greenway concept, a number of design elements and performance requirements should be included and addressed throughout all spaces. These aim to bring consistency to the design of the Laurel Greenway and maintain the vision as individual spaces and connections are developed. These elements include: Placemaking + Identity, Flow + Movement, Healthy Living, Urban Nature, Floodable Space, Event Servicing, All Season Function, and Lighting. Each of the elements noted serve as a starting point of what to consider but should be investigated through detailed design at each individual site as the Greenway is implemented.
Collaboration
