Discovering home : trail design for the Foothills, Lantzville BC

• Main Author: Sifton, Leigh-Kathleen
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/17763

The Foothills in Lantzville, BC is a unique and beautiful place; stunning even. Admittedly, it presently takes a future vision to see its beauty. Heavily degraded by a history of forest operations, this site is in need of healing hands, engaged people who will help with the restoration work that the developers, Lantzville Foothills Estates Inc., are committed to completing. An inventory and mapping of the site in 2004 defined the site’s biophysical character. This information was used to define areas suitable for development and areas suitable for open space. As a result, of the 1826 acres that make up the Foothills, half has been set aside to become public park. This project is designed to help with insights, directions and design possibilities for the future core area of this park. This project is an attempt to connect people with this landscape through well thought out trail systems and facilities such that they will develop a connection to this place and will become engaged with the restoration and protection of the future park. Guiding principles were established to guide the design of interventions that minimize user impacts while creating opportunities for wonder and discovery. Facilities rest lightly on their site while being deeply rooted in their position in the greater landscapes. Trails, designed by linking key features with appropriate sequencing, speak to the uniqueness of this landscape. Discovering Home provides an illustration of an approach to trail design that should be undertaken in the rest of the park at The Foothills. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of === Graduate