We’re excited to share the Canadian Urban Institute has revealed the winners of the 2021 Brownie Awards and our Arbutus Greenway Design Vision project won in the Reach Out: Communications, Marketing and Public Engagement category. 

Founded in 2001, the Brownie Awards recognize the innovative efforts of professionals who rehabilitate sites that were once contaminated, under-utilized, and undeveloped by remaking them into productive residential and commercial projects that contribute to the growth of healthy communities across Canada.

The Arbutus Greenway Design Vision imagines the transformation of a 9km decommissioned rail corridor compromising 42 acres of open space into a destination which fosters movement and rich social interaction inspired by nature and the stories of the places it connects.

By planning for a streetcar, the greenway makes way for future transit investment and transit supportive land uses in some of Vancouver’s lowest density neighbourhoods. When the design vision is realized, the greenway will make space for native planting, songbird and pollinator habitat, rainwater management, rolling and walking, and a series of public space destinations.

“This is a story of the little project that could… and grew and grew,” says Antonio Gomez-Palacio, DIALOG Partner. “It started with a small group of passionate people with a big idea that avalanched to inspire hundreds of people who took time off from riding bikes, picking berries, and planting gardens, to participate in a truly transformative initiative.”

Overall, engagement reached 7,000 people and resulted in 4,000 survey responses over three phases to help inform the development of the temporary pathway and future greenway.

Congratulations to the entire project team, including: City of Vancouver, Mott Macdonald, Urban Systems, Universal Access Design, Lucent Quay, PBX, Engineering, Maureen Smith Consulting, and Hemmera.