Hamilton's Pier 8 - design options

NRU
April 18, 2018
By Michael Ott

Four designs have been shortlisted for the redevelopment of Hamilton's Pier 8, located in the West Harbour area.

The four proponents vying for the contract are GulfDream, Waterfront Shores, Tridel, and a joint effort of Urban Capital, Core Urban, and the Milborne Group.

While each design proposal has some unique features, they all must adhere to the vision laid out by the city in the West Harbour Recreation Master Plan and the Setting Sail Secondary Plan. The necessary requirements of the designs include mixed-use residential and commercial buildings (including affordable housing), recreational spaces, boardwalks and multi-use paths, walkability, and public access to the waterfront.

Additionally, each incorporates the Pier 8 Promenade Park, which is currently under construction.

Hamilton senior project advisor Chris Phillips says "the city has always looked to redevelop the West Harbour as a community." The former industrial shipping port has been slated for redevelopment since the federal government handed the land to Hamilton in the early 2000s.

"The next step is taking the recommendation with the preferred proponent to council," Phillips explained. From there, the finer details will be ironed out and eventually, staff will break ground on the new community, ending what Phillips says has been "an 18-year process."

The four design proposals seek to make the area a world-class neighbourhood, placing Hamilton on the map as a hub of innovation and community. Along with the city's requirements, each feature unique food scenes, generous landscaping, and aesthetically-pleasing architecture.

Urban Capital, Core Urban, and the Milborne Group's proposal focuses on "several small ideas" instead of "one big one." The design includes a CoBALT Connects and YWCA-programmed community hub, an Alt Hotel, Hamilton Public Library Branch, and a network of greenspaces connecting the different blocks.

The design features work from Saucier and Perrotte Architects with RAW Design, and is called "an urban forest." North-south green slips connect the "forest" to the water and inject environmental atmosphere through the blocks.

The Tridel proposal seeks to build an active and walkable community centred on families, and people of varying ages. The central community hub is a large courtyard in the middle of the area, linked to the other blocks by courtyards and green walkways.

Tridel's proposal also features a childcare centre for working families, integrated into a seniors' residence. The brick and limestone architecture, designed by architectsAlliance, shapes the angled, linear buildings, which the designers believe calls back to the industrial warehouses of the area's past.

The proposal by Waterfront Shores, featuring designs by KPMB Architects, envisions a grouping of unique buildings that fit nicely together-a concept called "coherent diversity."

This design features steel and brick, a nod to Hamilton's industrial past. The waterfront is featured heavily, and all roads lead to the water from the community. The network of townhouses leaves 40 per cent of the site in open space, leaving room for residents to gather for events.

Finally, Great Gulf has teamed with DREAM to create GulfDream. This proposal was designed in partnership with Hariri Pontarini and McCallum Sather, and focuses on urban wood. The idea here is that the neighbourhood will be built from sustainable, renewable wood.

A MakerSpace Lab and Recreation Centre are featured alongside an arts and culture gallery, all of which are connected by "generously landscaped" pedestrian walkways. GulfDream notes in its presentation that the design is influenced by Toronto's Distillery and Canary districts.

Ward 2 councillor Jason Farr is excited about the future of the $140-million project.

"We're starting to literally see a longstanding plan come to fruition, and I can say on the council's behalf that we're very optimistic," Farr told NRU.

Farr says the feedback from his constituents has been overwhelmingly positive, and he's happy to see what many years of engagement has accomplished.

"Fences were once the norm, and now, we've opened up the waterfront to the public," he said. "It affects us all, and I think it will really put us on the map."

Following public consultation, which ends this week, city staff will begin the selection process before submitting the recommended proposal to council in June.