Carefully balancing multiple perspective to create a master plan for a complex, challenging site.
THE CHALLENGE
Riverview Hospital officially closed in 2012. For decades Riverview provided critical care to people with severe mental illnesses. The 240-acre site is also an arboretum and houses one of the largest tree collections in the Province. In 2013 BC Housing was given the mandate to redevelop Riverview and in 2015 published a vision for the future of the site (Renewing Riverview).
THE RESPONSE
Subsequently, BC hired a large team of consultants led by Perkins&Will Architects. Modus is part of that team and is leading public and stakeholder engagement for the project and providing land use planning advice. In 2021, BC Housing and the kwikwəƛ̓ əm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation honoured the kwikwəƛ̓ əm’s historical and cultural ties to the Riverview Lands by renaming the site to the hənq̓ ̓əmin̓əm name of s ̓əmiqw̓ əʔelə (pronounced Suh-mEE-kwuh EL-uh) meaning “Place of the Great Blue Heron”.
Client
BC Housing in partnership with the kwikwəƛ̓ əm Nation
Collaborators
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