Urban Strategies and PFS Studio, in collaboration with Campus + Community Planning staff, developed a master plan for UBC’s next mixed-use community, Stadium Neighbourhood. The 9-hectare/22-acre site for the neighbourhood is located between the athletic facilities of Thunderbird Park and the UBC Botanical Garden, and almost a third of it will be occupied by a new Thunderbird Stadium with permanent seating for 5,000 spectators. The remaining development, up to 1.5 million square feet, will include lease-hold and rental housing for 2,500+ residents and a mix of community, retail, academic, office and/or maker space on the ground floor of many buildings. The goal is to create a compact neighbourhood with a diverse and lively public realm that completes UBC’s South Campus and links the Wesbrook Place community to the south with the core academic precinct to the north. Building on the success of Wesbrook Place, the new neighbourhood will set a new benchmark for sustainable community design.

Urban Strategies facilitated a week-long charrette with over 40 participants to kick-off the master planning process and produce three initial development scenarios. We then used our design and modeling capabilities to digitize, analyze and refine each scenario in their context, which includes significant slopes across the site and sensitive ecosystems. A central challenge was to locate, design and program the stadium to ensure it contributes positively to the neighbourhood and adjacent streets. A combination of high-rise and mid-rise buildings will give the neighbourhood a distinct profile on the campus, while a diverse open space network will thematically link it to the surrounding natural and campus setting.