Welland Canal Park and Civic Square, Canada

Source Landscape Architecture by Janet Rosenberg & Studio, Photography by Jeff McNeill.

Architect

Janet Rosenberg & Studio, CS&P Architects

Type of Area

Urban canal (surrounded by buildings)

Land/water interaction

Promenade
Terraces/steps
Bridges

Built Environment Types

Highly built
Low green

Scale of Impact

Block
District/ neighbourhood
City

Intervention Scale (Spatial)

Moderate Site

Historic Canal Walk Extension.

Welland canal park is a civic square in front of the city hall building designed by Janet Rosenberg & Studio and constructed in 2005 on a 0.6 hectares (1.5 acres) site. The project comprises of a series of gardens, ramps, bridges, and viewing platforms that also retained the former historic walls of the canal.

The space was built into the existing recreation network of the city and enhances the experience of using the existing scenic and historic canal walk. The place is perceived as a very welcoming destination for obtaining an outdoor nature experience and relaxation.

The place provides all the necessary civic amenities such lighting, signage, walkways, seating, artworks, and planting. The project also aimed to reinforce Welland’s urban core.

The project is very accessible to local transport and also provides car access and parking. It is also well connected to pedestrian and cycle paths and provides opportunities for walking, running, sitting, relaxing, together with spaces to organise small concerts and events.

The design has improved the aesthetic quality by adding viewing points, selecting a unified palette of vegetation, introducing the plaza and tree planting.

The water treatment aspect of the park comprises a series of pockets of artificially created biotopes and the plaza itself helps to infiltrate storm water before its release into the canal. 

Project Types

Urban waterfront restoration
Storm water management
Urban design

Urban/ Rural

Urban core

Visibility and Openness

Fully enclosed
Fully contained view

Perception and Meaning

Place identity
Imageability
Sense of place
Accessibility
Knowledgeability

Health and Wellbeing

Restorativeness
Aesthetic experience
Better environmental perception
Place affordance

Interaction with Water

Visual

The rating for this project suggest that the project appears to perform well or very well for almost all aspects except for possible physical activities.  The site has very high scores for accessibility.

Design quality of the site has good scores with excellent scores for views and landmarks and cultural heritage values. In terms of facilities and amenities, it rates very well for lighting and quality of nature.

Health and well-being aspect also score very high for safety and security, opportunity for contemplation, and sensory experience. The site has very high scores for water visibility and water safety equipment but no real direct access (although the canal is next to the site of course).