The comprehensive open space system at Oakridge consists of a nine-acre public park, a new High Street, plazas, and a variety of engaging streetscapes. These public spaces will be well-connected with each other as well as the accessible, programmable public roof top, the adjacent neighbourhoods, the Canada Line station, and the City greenway/bikeway system. These spaces provide a wide range of community amenities and activities and create a social heart for the neighbourhood. Core to the open space for the new Oakridge Centre is the integration of rainwater management strategies into the design of the landscape, in line with the City of Vancouver’s Rain City Strategy. The landscape design includes the provision of rain gardens and bio-swales, which are designed to capture rainwater from hard landscape, roof areas, and other non-filtering landscapes for infiltration through vegetation and the soil. Additional green infrastructure includes rainwater filtering systems, rainwater storage cisterns, and a rainwater treatment plant that manages stored rainwater for reuse in irrigation systems, cooling towers, project-wide toilet fixtures, commercial car washing, and residential washing machines. The green infrastructure components are well-integrated with the design of the landscape for Oakridge Centre, providing a proactive approach that considers the entire ecosystem, anticipates future rainfall volumes, and employs holistic and natural solutions to protect property, regional water ecology, and wildlife habitat.
