Category: Media

It was a park named for a local hero, so Seferian Design Group (SDG) wanted to make it right.

The firm was retained in October 2017 to provide landscape architecture and design services for the park in Guelph, Ontario. Located just west of downtown at 235 Elizabeth Street, the 1.8-acre park was named for Domenic “Mico” Valeriote, a local athlete and elected member of city council, who was known as the best middle-distance runner in Canada around 1930, according to the Guelph Sports Hall of Fame.

Existing amenities at the park included:

• A wading pool
• A playground (2007) with swings, small structure, and climber
• An open-space area
• A number of mature trees.

Thoughtful Planning
The re-design was initiated after a report presented to the city in June 2017 recommended the removal of the wading pool, constructed in the 1970s. The pool was nearing the end of its service and would require a significant capital investment to continue to operate.

SDG assembled a small, focused team of professionals with expertise in the wide range of disciplines this project required. In addition to dealing with landscape architecture, the consulting team included civil engineering, electrical engineering, structural engineering, and arboriculture.

Senior Landscape Architect and Project Manager, Brad Smith, worked closely with the city to understand and analyze background information, public-consultation feedback, and reports to ensure the landscape programming reflected the city’s goals and design criteria, while creating a park space that flourished within the community. The final plan of the redesign was:

• Cost-effective
• Functional and aesthetically pleasing
• Diverse for a number of uses, users, and functions
• Practical for facility operation and maintenance efficiency
• Safe, secure, and accessible
• Compliant with local and city policies, including but not limited to the Guelph Facility Accessibility Design Manual, Ontario Building Code, and the city’s Official Plan.

One of the key objectives for this park, as reported by Smith, was cultural diversity. “Parks need to remove barriers, create movement, and allow people to inject their own meaning within the space, so our landscape program for the park had to be inclusive of all ages and all abilities,” he says.

In addition to diversification, SDG designed the park to become a neighborhood destination. One of the main challenges is that the park is zoned P2, which means there is no onsite parking or lighting. “We had to design the park in a way that included amenities and included features that wanted to draw people into the park and keep them there,” Smith says. “[Features] that made them want to walk or travel throughout the city to get to this park, and to not just hop in their car and drive to it; that they can actually access it by walking, cycling, and public transit.”

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The property across the street from Pillar & Post, owned by Vintage Hotels, planted it’s first tree to signify the beginning of the installation of a six-acre botanical garden.

What used to be a C&C Yacht club has now been torn down and will soon contain 342 trees, 21,000 shrubs and perennials within the next couple months.

In 2015 Seferian Design Group was retained by Vintage Hotels to design the garden and event space at the Pillar and Post in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The ‘Gardens’ will be located directly south of the current inn and spa and will be bordered by John Street, Regent Street, Anne Street, and King Street.

https://youtu.be/Eo5FlLshj8A

Our landscape architectural team, worked in conjunction with the architect, engineer, lighting and acoustical consultant to design the Monet-inspired garden space. The space will include paved pathways, lily ponds complete with a pedestrian bridge, lawn spaces for events, a new event building, vegetable gardens, water features that will double as a skating rink, site amenities and furnishings, and lighting. The new space will also host the Vintage Hotel offices and will include a decorative stone wall around the park to allow for public and private access during events. Regent Street will also be closed to traffic and will be retrofitted with granite cobble.

April is World Landscape Architecture Month so we thought it fitting to release our #WLAM2019 video about what #landscapearchitecture means to our team.

#WLAM2019 was created to increase awareness of landscape architecture globally and bring local and national recognition and awareness to the profession, Landscape Architects, and works of landscape architecture in Canada.

April is the perfect month to share our profession and reach out to our communities, notable for Earth Day (April 22nd) and the birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26th), founder of the landscape architecture profession in North America.

As part of the Civic Square renewal project, the public art program will be commissioning a series of artist-designed shade structures.

A community jury selected three finalists to develop preliminary artwork concepts. Now we want your feedback! Please review the three proposed designs and tell us what you think. Your comments, along with the technical and design proposals will inform the jury’s final selection.

Click here to see the renderings and to provide your feedback.

Our Senior Landscape Architect, Brad Smith, is now a full member of the Atlantic Provinces Association of Landscape Architects (APALA) and able to work in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador.

The (APALA) is the governing body of professional landscape architects in the Atlantic Provinces and a component organization of CSLA, the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects

What drew you to the profession of landscape architecture?

We’d barely pressed “Send” on this question when the magazine inbox began to ping with heartfelt responses that told stories of serendipity, clarity, epiphany, hope, mission, and spark. It turns out that the reasons behind the decision to pursue a career in landscape architecture are as varied as the profession itself. 

Brad Smith, OALA, Burlington

I decided that I wanted to become a landscape architect in Grade 11. My family had a vacation property in the Bruce Peninsula and, from an early age, I was fascinated with the landscape, ecology, climate, and recreational opportunities of that area. Landscape architecture brought them all together and, to this day, I approach design as a relationship between our place in nature and nature’s place in our lives. The profession has allowed me to change communities, inspire place-making opportunities, spark relationships, foster experiences with the environment, and create unforgettable personal moments

Letter from The Burlington Food Bank

To Seferian Design Group,

Thank you for your kind donation of 310 lbs. of food in support of the Burlington Food Bank. We appreciate this donation as it helps us to provide healthy food for those in need here in Burlington. Thank you for partnering with us in our service of “Feeding Burlington since 1991”.

We look forward to partnering with you in the new year.

Burlington Food Bank is dedicated to; Providing nutritious food to the hungry in a dignified and timely manner!

Sincerely,

Robin Bailey
Executive Director
Burlington Food Bank
r.bailey@burlingtonfoodbank.ca
905-637-CARE(2273)

Our Digital Marketing Manager, Tara Cameron, is now a Canadian Certified Playground Inspector by the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association and Canadian Playground Safety Institute. 

If your organization does not have a certified inspector on staff or are in need of a “3rd Party” inspection of your play structures, give us a call at 905-634-3110 x 3122.

The Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) offers the CPRA Canadian Certified Playground Inspector Certification program to individuals who successfully complete the Theory and Practical training courses through the Canadian Playground Safety Institute (CPSI).  The program helps individuals understand CAN/CSA Z614 “Children’s Playspaces and Equipment” and to learn how to conduct a hands-on inspection / audit of their playspace.

Certified Inspectors:

• understand the CAN/CSA Z614 Standards
• identify hazards and equipment not in compliance with CSA Standards
• understand inspection requirements and process
• manage risk and reduce liability
• take into consideration factors that affect playground safety beyond the CSA Standards
• evaluate existing play structures for compliance with the CSA standards
• complete a written inspection report
• provide recommendations for upgrading equipment to comply with the CSA standards with the understanding of safety and cost implications
• identify and implement an effective inspection and maintenance program

SDG works with Mayor Goldring and The City of Burlington Planning.

The City of Guelph has released the final design for a new park to be constructed on Cedarvale Avenue, in the east end of the city. Construction is expected to get started in late summer to early fall, and be completed by the end of 2018. – City of Guelph.

Following two rounds of community engagement, the City of Guelph has released the final design for a new park in the east end of the city.

The new park on Cedarvale Avenue will feature two play areas, a sand play area, level and sloped grass areas, an area with fitness equipment, a games table and more. The plan also calls for some new trees to be planted on the property, which was dedicated to the city in 2010.

Construction of the new park, which is about 0.25 hectares, is expected to get underway between late summer and early fall, and be done by the end of the year.

The total cost of the new park is over half a million dollars to date, with $110,000 approved in the 2017 budget for community engagement, conceptual master planning and construction document preparation, and another $420,000 in the 2018 budget for construction.

More details are available at guelph.ca/cedarvaleavenue.