Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Deliverable: master plan
Key Features: master planning integrated with wildlife biology
The design team was commissioned to develop a Master Plan for the South Campus expansion of the University of Alberta in Edmonton. The South Campus was envisioned as a semi-self sufficient campus with classrooms, laboratories, athletics and student housing.
Because the campus is somewhat distant from its parent campus, and because winters in Edmonton are long and cold, the design team endeavoured to create a tight campus fabric which would shelter students going from class to class and create a definable centre for gathering and events.
This increase in density meant an opportunity to create a wildlife corridor connecting one bend in the North Saskatchewan River with another to the south and west. Two species of bird were identified, one with edge habitat requirements and a second with forest interior requirements, needing at least 125m on all sides of the forest. Using the wildlife biology of these two bird species, a Master Plan was developed which catered to their habitat requirements and provided an on-site opportunity for the Faculty of Forestry and Wildlife Biology to participate in and monitor habitat restoration. Integrating principles of wildlife biology into the master planning process provided an opportunity to maintain ecological function, improve habitat quantity of two struggling bird species and overall lighten the impact of urbanization.
