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7th September 2010

VanDusen in The News!

Check out 'Riprap' in this month's issue of Landscape Architecture. Construction is under way on the new Visitor Centre set to open April 2011. Sharp & Diamond is excited about this inspirational project targeted to meet the Living Building Challenge. The project is trying to forge the most advanced standard of sustainability, over and above LEED® Platinum!

VanDusen LA

5th March 2010

YVR receives CSLA Award of Excellence

Sharp & Diamond Landscape Architecture is the proud recipient of a CSLA 2010 Awards of Excellence National Honour Award, in the Landscape Management category, for the Sea Island YVR Landscape Master Plan. Entitled A Gateway Landscape - Vancouver International Airport, the submission focused on the culmination of a comprehensive master planning and management process that begin 25 years ago, crystallizing over the last 5 years in lead up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. The master plan project has successfully achieved the client’s objectives enhancing place identity, promoting sustainability, and strengthening the YVR brand. Sharp & Diamond wishes to thank Clive Grout Architects, YVR Project Management, and all the contractors, consultants and material/plant suppliers for all their hard and dedicated work to make this project a success.

2010 awards list

YVR landscape master plan

22nd January 2010

A Page in History!

The history of Granville Island is shared in this colourful collection of stories compiled by Karen Johnson. Randy has been included and tells the story of his start in Vancouver and the beginning of Sharp + Diamond on Granville Island and its part in the designing and planning.

Granville Island - Karen Johnson

18th December 2009

How to Plant a Parking Lot

Five empty lots on Hastings Street are undergoing a major makeover as a diverse group of community-oriented organizations and hundreds of volunteers have been working throughout the fall to transform the lots into a fully functioning urban farm in time for spring.
read more

SOLEfood

14th December 2009

2009 Sharpie Awards

This past Saturday evening, December 12th, the Sharp & Diamond crew assembled for the 2nd Annual Sharpie Awards. The full list of awards and winners have yet to be published....stay tuned and get ready to vote for the 2010 Sharpies.

And the 2009 rookie of the year award goes to.....

14th December 2009

LEED® GOLD!!

it's official, The Burnside Gorge Community Centre has received LEED® Canada-NC Certification (Gold)!!!

Congratulations to the entire team!!!!

10th November 2009

Shanghai World Expo

Clive Grout Architect Inc. enlisted Sharp & Diamond as the Landscape Architects for the US Pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

A main signature element is that of water and the importance of this precious resource to our cities of the future. A waterfall generated from a rain water supplemented pool on the roof terrace celebrates our commitment to preserving this precious resource water.

The design of the Pavilion also takes the opportunity to introduce viable urban agriculture to our cities. The theme of the importance of developing Urban Agriculture initiatives in our cities, especially on rooftops, is an important component of the messages guests will discover in the show presentation in the Pavilion.

10th November 2009

Be Water Wise!

The City of Vancouver has released the Water Wise Landscape Guidelines put together by Sharp & Diamond. The document will be used to assist applicants interested in developing private property. Specifically, the guidelines are a reference tool for the design, implementation, and maintenance of water wise landscapes for all scales of landscape development.
For more information visit COV Water Wise

4th November 2009

New Sitelines Editor!!

Sharp + Diamond’s very own Brett Hitchins has stepped up to the plate. Brett, a graduate of Guelph University’s landscape architecture program, is passionate about design that makes a difference. With strong creative and graphic skills Brett has taken on the position as the Editor of Sitelines. Make sure to check out his first two issues of Sitelines , the third issue will be out at the beginning of January.

Brett Hitchins, Sitelines Editor

26th October 2009

SOLEfood Urban Farm Raising

Sharp & Diamond assisted Projects in Place and United We Can in developing the first urban farm in the Downtown Eastside. The project will provide green employment opportunities for those with employment barriers. For more information, please visit PROJECTS IN PLACE

The Metro, October 26, 2009

26th October 2009

Honouring 25 Years!

The Planning Institute of British Columbia is holding its 2009 World Town Planning Day - Celebrating the Profession gala reception and dinner. The gala is being held November 7, at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel. Larry Diamond will be among the members being honoured for 25 years of professional membership with the Institute.

Planning Institute of British Columbia

 

 

6th October 2009

ROYAL CITY BUILDERS’ AWARDS

September 30th the New Westminster 38th Annual Royal City Builders’ Awards Ceremony was held at the Inn at Westminster Quay. David Stoyko, Principal, was in attendance as two Sharp & Diamond projects received awards.

The Victoria Heights Assisted Living and Care Centre won three awards in the categories of: Universal Access - Facility, Institutional, and Sustainability.

The Victoria Hill Nurse’s Lodge won the award for Best Modern Residential project.

2009 Royal City Builders’ Awards Nominee List

Victoria Hill Nurse’s Lodge

10th August 2009

WORLD’S FIRST...

The Green Roof Professional Exam was launched this past June at the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Conference in Atlanta. Congratulations to Randy for being in the group of world’s first accredited Green Roof Professionals!!!

Living Architecture Monitor Summer 2009

Also check out page 22 for more information on Broadway Tech Centre.

Living Architecture Monitor Summer 2009

26th June 2009

Sustainable Design Materials: Green Walls

Join Randy at the 2009 ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo in Chicago, September 18-21. Randy will be a featured speaker for the session: Sustainable Design Materials: Green Walls.

In this session, participants will have the opportunity to review examples of established green-wall technologies and the development of new systems and hybrids in the context of issues affecting long-term sustainability of installations. Case-study examples will focus on both green facades and living walls. Participants will learn how to evaluate design intent, site conditions, and system selection, to produce a "checklist" of issues for initiating a successful green-wall design.

2009 ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo

Chicago Millennium Park

22nd June 2009

Vancouver Aquarium recipient of a 2009 Green Building Award

SAB Magazine winners 09

Vancouver Aquarium

15th May 2009

UP ON THE ROOF!

Check out May’s issue of National Geographic. The feature ‘Up on the Roof’ highlights Sharp + Diamond’s work at the Vancouver Aquarium, as well as many exciting green projects around the globe. A lofty idea is blossoming in cities around the world.....

nationalgeographic.com

living wall at the Vancouver Aquarium

7th April 2009

2009 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE - GREEN ROOFS FOR HEALTHY CITIES

Sharp & Diamond was the recipient of two awards: Extensive Institutional Design for Burnside Gorge Community Centre in Victoria. Integrated into the hillside along Cecelia Creek Ravine, Burnside Gorge Community Centre blends architecture and landscape into the adjacent ecological and social fabric of Victoria’s northwestern most neighbourhood. With 90% of the site functioning as greenspace, it is a community focal point that features one of Western Canada’s largest publicly accessible green roofs. Intensive Industrial / Commercial Design for Broadway Tech Centre in Vancouver. Broadway Tech Centre is a office park built on a brownfield hillside site featuring a variety of high amenity spaces built mostly on roof deck. Intensive green rooftops include a sport field, café patios, entrance plazas, sport courts, and the thematic use of water features creating places for both active and passive recreation. Water featureswith spray heads and bubblers on boulders create visual delight and white sound to attenuate traffic noise on Broadway. Large canopy trees shade portions of the hardscape and provide green corridors through the site. Buildings 1, 5, and 7 are registered for LEED® Gold status with the Canada Green Building Council.

2009 Awards of Excellence

Aerial view of Burnside Gorge

7th April 2009

YVR WELCOMES THE WORLD

A large banner signed by YVR staff, consultants and contractors involved with various projects being completed this year in advance of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The wall mounted banner is located in the new Link Building near the International ticketing.

Randy Sharp and Mike Enns

7th April 2009

YVR - OLYMPIC RINGS

The Olympic Rings are located on Grant McConachie Way, the main road leading to and from Vancouver International Airport. The 14-metre tall 2010 Olympic rings logo sit on landscape berm planted with flowering perennials, low shrubs and groundcovers that display a four seasons effect. The rings have 20,385 individual LED lights that can be programmed for complex light show displays. As part of B.C.’s commitment to a green games the lights in the display use energy efficient bulbs that consume 8.8 per cent of the electricity of equivalent incandescent bulbs and will cost only $3.36 per day in power. “As B.C.’s airport, we are delighted that YVR was selected as the site for this symbol of our shared Olympic pride, which will be enjoyed by the millions of travelers who visit our airport every year,” said Larry Berg, president and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority. “These incredible rings will offer the thousands of expected Games-times visitors, athletes and media a great first impression from the moment they land in 2010.”

14-metre tall 2010 Olympic rings

7th April 2009

“BY HAND”: AN EXHIBITION OF HAND DRAWINGS BY LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

The goal of this exhibition is to highlight the hand drawing and graphic skills of our landscape architects with emphasis on creative thinking. Perspective sketches, conceptual design drawings as well as sketches from travels will be featured in this exhibition. The message is that despite the importance of computers, landscape architects still can draw and think by hand. Yes, hand drawing is very much alive and well – and it plays a vital role in what we do! The exhibit will be displayed at the Land Summit in Whistler, May 20th-22nd.

Drawings by BC Landscape Architects

7th April 2009

BC LAND SUMMIT, WHISTLER, MAY 20-22

he 2009 BC Land Summit will be an interdisciplinary conference organized by six professional organizations, all of whom share ties to land use in British Columbia and who will combine their 2009 annual conferences into this exciting joint venture. Both Randy Sharp and Larry Diamond will be presenting papers at this exciting conference. www.bclandsummit.com

Climate Specific Development by Randy Sharp

7th April 2009

GREEN WALLS 101: INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMS AND DESIGN

This introductory training course on green wall infrastructure design presents an overview of the many tools and techniques needed to satisfy your green building project objectives. This course provides information on benefits, major functions and components of a green facades and living walls. The instructor, Randy Sharp developed the course Green Walls 101, which he teaches as a LEED® Accredited Professional in cities across North America. Course dates and locations: May 12, Vancouver, BC, BCIT Downtown, 555 Seymour St June 3, Atlanta, Georgia, Hyatt Regency, 265 Peachtree Street To register, please visit www.greenroofs.org

Photo by Greenscreen

30th September 2008

COQUITLAM SPORTS FIELD DEVELOPMENT - COQUITLAM, BC

The new Coquitlam town centre park sports fields are nearing completion. This multiple field, multi-million dollar upgrade features all-season artificial sport turf fields and Olympic quality public realm detailing. The parking lot features continuos trenches with structural soil, tree diamonds and permeable interlocking paving to provide multiple benefits including urban heat island reduction, evaporative cooling, stormwater infiltration, CPTED security and aesthetics.

Sports Field Parking Area

23rd September 2008

URBAN LAND INSTITUTE RANKS VANCOUVER AQUARIUM NO. 1 IN ‘SUSTAINING THE LANDSCAPE’

Urban Land magazine, June 2008, has ranked the Aquaquest Learning Centre as No. 1 in the ‘ULX Sustaining the Landscape’ “Ten landscape designs… that cool buildings and urban areas, restore ecosystems, manage stormwater runoff, conserve water, and reconnect the built and natural environments.” Visit www.uli.org. On May 2, 2008, the project won the first ever Green Wall Award of Excellence from Green Roofs for Healthy Cities for the first modular living wall in North America. Visit http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/05/12/green-roofs-for-healthy-cities.

Aquaquest Learning Center

23rd September 2008

FOUNDING MEMBER AWARDED FELLOWSHIP IN THE CSLA

On March 1, 2008, Randy Sharp received the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Fellowship ring for years of volunteering with the profession in BC and for expanding the scope of landscape architecture in a new marketplace. A reception and banquet honored leadership and contributions to landscape architecture at the CSLA Congress in Quebec.

Randy Sharp At CSLA Awards Dinner

23rd September 2008

VANDUSEN BOTANICAL GARDEN REGISTERED FOR LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE

The Visitor’s Centre at VanDusen Botantical Garden, Vancouver Park Board, has been registered for the Living Building Challenge under the Cascadia GGC, www.cascadiagbc.org. Sharp & Diamond has joined Busby Perkins & Will and Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Landscape Architect to design the $20 million Visitors Centre, gardens and new living exhibits. The Botanical Garden will become a leader in the display and science of sustainable horticulture featuring natural ecosystems and plant diversity. For membership and fundraising, visit http://vancouver.ca/Parks/parks/vandusen.

VanDusen Conceptual Gardens Master Plan

20th August 2008

MACPHERSON WALK - BURNABY, BC

Construction has begun on the new MacPherson Walk residential development by Hungerford Group International and Robert Ciccozzi Architects. This fantastic multifamily project will set a new standard for Burnaby, with expansive open spaces that connect the more than 350 condominium homes and townhomes. The 7 acre landscape features a number of amenities for residents, and connects to public trail systems. www.macphersonwalk.com

 

 

20th August 2008

COMPLETION OF NEWPORT VILLAGE – PORT MOODY, BC

After 18 years of planning and development, we are proud that the final touches are complete on the precedent-setting Newport Village. The final phase has been completed, and new, exciting public open spaces are now open for everyone to enjoy. We feel honoured to have been involved in Newport Village since the start, and to have helped with the development of every project within.

Newport Village