St. Patrick's Island is at the centre of an ambitious redevelopment strategy for the East Village in downtown Calgary; the design creates both a well located community resource and a city-wide recreation destination. The 'Living Island' is envisioned as natural landscape infrastructure with restored ecological vitality, unique place-making amenities, and sustainable resilience to the inevitable flooding of the Bow River.
The plan for revitalization of St. Patrick's Island is based on the principles of 'biophilia' - a landscape approach that honours and nurtures the instinctive bond between people and nature. The centre of the island is to be restored as a bio-diverse and tranquil area of natural habitat. Social experiences are linked along a shared pedestrian and bike pathway and include event pavilions, a sun deck, picnic areas, an elevated transect walkway, and boat launch. The 'Living Island' design includes re-established channels and wetlands where water flowed as recently as 1960. Material removed to construct the historic channels is re-purposed to create the 'Rise', a feature that offers dramatic views of the Calgary skyline and an inviting slope for winter sledding.
New York-based W Architecture and Denver-based Civitas with Calgary-based IBI Group are landscape architects and architects for re project.
