The Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) recently added Richmond Canal Walk as one of their exemplary Case Study Briefs as part of their ongoing Landscape Performance Series (LPS), an online resource aimed at highlighting the value of sustainable landscape solutions with quantifiable environmental, economic and social benefits.
Richmond Canal Walk is one of 25 new LPS Case Study Briefs generated through LAF’s Summer 2011 Case Study Investigation (CSI) program. As a unique collaborative research initiative, CSI matches LAF-funded student and faculty research teams with design firms in order to document high-performing landscape projects and develop methods to quantify landscape performance benefits. This year, 10 faculty Research Fellows led this unique collaboration with 12 student research assistants and practitioners from 22 firms across the country.
The award-winning transformation of this two-mile-long corridor came to life when a combined sewer overflow installation resulted in the unearthing of a historic canal. WRT’s plan and design of public improvements along the newly revealed waterfront had the dual effect of introducing civic amenity and spurring significant private development. Improvements include canal walls, walkways, terraces, pedestrian bridges, and steps and ramps to provide access to the canal from street level. Pedestrian plazas at the east end of the Haxall Canal and Turning Basin in Kanawha Canal serve as major public nodes within the redevelopment district. Related private sector development includes 2.6 million square feet of office space, 400 residential units, and 70 thousand square feet of retail.
External Links:
Richmond Canal Walk Case Study Brief http://www.lafoundation.org/case-study/390/
See all of the Landscape Performance Series Case Study Briefs http://www.lafoundation.org/case-studies
Internal Links:
Richmond Canal Redevelopment
