Every Transit-oriented Development (TOD) is unique in its response to surrounding context and city-wide goals and needs. Planning TOD must consider designing inclusive communities that meet the needs of a range of age and income groups as socio-, cultural-, economic and ecological concerns are integrated with principles of sustainable planning and design. In this presentation, Marcelo shared his expertise and experience on designing previously successful transit-oriented developments in Edmonton while providing insightful direction and foresight on the working model for TOD in Edmonton, and how it can be successfully implemented and improved in the future.

1. Pioneering Transit
Oriented Development
(TOD) in Edmonton
Lessons Learned for Successful
TOD Development
Marcelo Figueira
Associate, ParioPlan
APPI Conference 2011
October 18, 2011
Red Deer, AB

2. Who Are We?
ParioPlan Inc. award-winning
consulting in design and
development of urban infill sites

3. Interdisciplinary Efforts

4. Feature Projects
 Feature Projects
 Century Park
 Station Pointe
 Strathearn Heights
 Glenora Skylights
 Regency East
 Lessons Learned

5. TOD Ready
Designing walkable neighbourhoods around a community core with
appropriate scale and density, while providing great places and quality public
space, can meet several sustainability goals and assure a city’s future transit-
readiness

6. Century Park – Unique Opportunity
 To develop a higher density mixed use urban village adjacent to a LRT station

7. Century Park – Existing Conditions
 Greyfield redevelopment of the Heritage Mall Site (17.41 ha)

8. Century Park – LRT Station and Transit Centre

9. Century Park – Complete Community
Direct Control DC2(742) - February 2009
Area A - residential,
commercial and office mixed
use development including
low, mid, and high rise
apartments and row housing
and an amenity centre
Area B - row housing, low,
mid, and high rise apartment
buildings
Area C - street-oriented, low
scale commercial buildings

10. Century Park – Breaking the Grid

11. Century Park – Promoting Walkability

12. Century Park – Benefits
 Public Art – developers commitment to contribute
$0.60 a sq ft to public art
 Mix of Land Uses –
residential/commercial/
retail uses
 High Quality Design – Slim
towers allow for increased
ground level open space,
create visual interest and
reduce bulk of buildings.
 Streetscapes – active
residential and
commercial frontages.
 Gridded Street Network –
provides direct movement
within the site.
 Open Spaces –
approximately half of the
site (8.9 ha) will be
maintained for open
space.
 Development
uses existing
infrastructure
and developer
pays for
upgrades

13. Century Park

14. Station Pointe – Existing Conditions
 The Plan area is located entirely within 400 to 800 metres (a 5 to
10 minute walking distance) of the Belvedere LRT Station,
transforming an aging “brownfield” industrial area into a vibrant
transit oriented, mixed use urban village.
Urban Design Plan area
Belvedere ARP Boundary
Urban Design Plan,
Amendment to the Belvedere
ARP and seven Direct Control
DC1 – September 2007

15. Station Pointe – Design Concept
 Key design features defined by three prominent public areas: a village
square, a revitalized Fort Road and a multi-use trail corridor

16. Station Pointe – Village Square
A village square, located at the centre of the Urban Design Plan area, will serve as a
focal point and landmark for residents and visitors

17. Station Pointe – Revitalized Fort Road

18. Station Pointe – Multi-use Trail Corridor
 A series of small open spaces, grassed berms, ornamental planting beds,
landscaped buffers and shrub beds were incorporated into a cohesive linear park
system along the site’s eastern edge
 A total of 1.27 hectares (3.14 acres) has been provided for parks and open space

19. Station Pointe – Multi-use Trail Corridor
 A landscaped multi-use trail for walkers, joggers and cyclists will extend from 66
Street to the Belvedere LRT Station

20. Station Pointe – Design Features
 A variety of building forms
includes row houses, and
low, mid and high-rise
apartments
 Residential and mixed-use
buildings have been
oriented to reinforce the
street, parks and open
spaces.
 Shallow setbacks and
active retail and
residential frontages
provide ‘eyes on the
street’ to create a safe
environment

21. Station Pointe – Benefits
 Master planning and high
quality architectural and
public space design are
vital for the Urban Design
Plan area
 Streetscape environment
establishes a heightened
sense of place.
 Mid-block mews, plazas
and small playground
areas create opportunities
for casual social
interaction while
promoting safety in the
area
 Commitment to public art
- sculpture, murals, bas-
reliefs and graphics

22. Strathearn Heights
Strathearn Heights
Redevelopment Site
Edmonton
Downtown
North Saskatchewan River
Silver LEED for Neighbourhood
Development (LEED-ND) Stage 2
An Urban Village – a sustainable,
open, and affordable community

23. Strathearn Heights – Existing Conditions

24. Strathearn Heights – Complete Community
Direct Control DC2(716) - February 2008
Area A - row housing and stacked row housing
Area B - row housing, mid and high rise
apartment housing
Area C - row housing and stacked row housing
Area D - residential and commercial mixed-use
development including row housing, stacked row
housing, mid and high rise apartment housing,
live/work units, and a clubhouse/ amenity centre
 Maximum of 1,750 Dwelling units, where 5% (88 units) proposed to be sold to Habitat at 85%
of market and 62 units to be sold at market value
 Maximum 3.4 Floor Area Ratio for the entire site
 Maximum of 3,716 square metres of complementary small-scale commercial development
 1.25 ha of public parkland

25. Enhanced Open Space + Connectivity
 Context

26. Garden Squares and Park Blocks
garden squares
park blocks

27. Public Art and Public Park
Enhancements
public art
site art $500,000
art gallery of
alberta $250,000
public parks
garden squares $300,000
new neighbourhood
park $450,000
$1,500,000

28. 2.5 – 3 storey edgeretail at grade
live - work
4 – 6 – 8 storey mid-riseslim high-rise
Building Form

29. Future Strathearn Southeast LRT Station

30. Future Strathearn Southeast LRT Station

31. Strathearn Heights - Benefits
 Mixed-use, urban village concept
 Variety of open spaces and site amenities
 Pedestrian facilities and connections
throughout the development
 Variety of housing forms
 Quality of design and architectural
treatment
 Underground parking
 Location and scale of commercial uses;
 Transition in scale between development
on site and the surrounding properties
 Retention of mature boulevard trees and
the addition of other landscaping.

32. Urban Village - Space, Safety, Comfort, and Community

33. Meeting Housing Demand While Balancing Living Standards,
Environmental Impacts and Market Conditions

34. Individuals, Families And Businesses Have Different Needs And Bring
Different Aspirations To The Community

35. Glenora Skyline – Existing Conditions

36. Glenora Skyline – Sensitive Infill Development
Direct Control DC2(715) - January 2008
 Maximum 2.75 Floor Area Ratio for the
site
 Maximum of 270 Dwellings (169
dwelling units per hectare)
 50 row house units with “doors on the
street’ along the edges of 142 Street,
103 Avenue and 102 Avenue

37. Glenora Skyline - Single Harmonious Architectural Theme

38. Glenora Skyline – Design Concept
 A comprehensive
mixed-use
redevelopment located
on 4.1 acres at the
corner of 142 Street and
Stony Plain Road
 Low, medium and high-
rise residential uses are
complimented by
commercial and park /
open space uses

39. Glenora Skyline - Sun-Shadow and Rooftop Design

40. Glenora Skyline – Design Features
 Buildings designed with detail and
articulation at street level. Retail and
residential land uses will wrap around
the building to create an attractive
streetscape
 Stepped-back podium provides a
human-scaled environment along
streets within, and around, the
development
 Thin towers with floor plates less
than 500m2 at mid-tower zone to
allow for increased ground level open
space and narrower shadows
 Sculpted tower tops create visual
interest and reduce the bulk of the
buildings where they are most
noticeable

41. Future Glenora West LRT Station

42. Future Glenora West LRT Station

43. Glenora Skyline - Benefits
 Pedestrian ”mews” and connections encourage walking to and from surrounding areas to access
commercial services and transit
 Extensive underground parking allows a portion of the site (0.4 ha) to be maintained for plazas and
open space
 $500,000 contribution for public art to be incorporated within the public spaces

44. Stadium (NE) LRT Station

45. Regency East – Opportunity
 Opportunity to advance a transit-
oriented development by taking
advantage of its proximity to the
Stadium LRT Station
 A combination of increased
residential densities, mixed use,
design excellence, and improved
connectivity create a self
sustaining community will be
catalyst to implement the
Stadium Station TOD Plan

46.  Design excellence applied to building
form enhances visual composition of
streets and skyline
 Human scale design applied to building
frontages augment pedestrian
experiences and provide passive
surveillance.
 Improve the public realm through
strategically placed artwork and urban
design features
Regency East – TOD Principles

47. Regency East – Design Concept
 slim high-rise towers
set back on mid- and
low-rise podiums
 articulated
architecture with
active frontages
 community art
gallery
 central plaza

48. Regency East – Design Concept
Direct Control DC2(752) - September 2009
 Floor Area Ratio: 8.0
 Building Height: 29, 32, 35 storeys
 Maximum of 1,000 Dwellings
 Row housing, work/live, Low-, mid-,
and high-rise apartments
 850 m2 (9,149 ft2 ) of indoor communal
amenity areas
 1,250 m2 (13,455 ft2 ) of outdoor
communal amenity areas
 Underground parking
 12,000 m2 (129,167 ft 2) of
neighbourhood retail

49. Regency East – Flexible Site Plan
 Towers can be relocated to adjust new
roadway and walkway paths to, from
and through the site
 The central plaza and the gallery can
be relocated, but their minimum size
must be maintained
 Parking can be reduced and
redesigned, but the number of access
and egress point must be maintained
 Building footprint, articulation and
location of active residential and
commercial frontages can be
redesigned and relocated to address
new roadway and walkway patterns

50. Regency East – Active Frontages

51. Regency East – Community Gallery

52. Regency East – Mixed-use

53. Regency East – Central Plaza
 The central plaza will
provide a family-oriented
amenity space, and the
community art gallery
and ground level active
retail frontages will
create a focal point for
residents and the public

54. Regency East – Central Plaza
How Often Do Cities Accommodate
Children And Seniors When It Comes To
Urban Design?

55. Regency East – Benefits
 Public art provision will be
implemented through two
opportunities - $100,000 for
purchased art and $815,000
towards structural art.
 $681,000 will be allocated to off-
site public amenities and
infrastructure, which will support
implementation of the Stadium
Station TOD Plan
 Public accessibility and
pedestrian connections
 Sustainable design strategies
equivalent to a Silver LEED
standard

56. Lessons Learned
 Be visionary, challenge the status quo
 Seize the opportunity to build a place, not a project
 Think density, not crowd
 Bundle and mix uses considering space, safety, comfort and community
 Respect market-driven forces, but be flexible with unforeseen trends
 Encourage active transportation
 Build on local features to market the lifestyle
 Be ready for implementation, yet be bold