Smith Street Restoration

Background

Smith Street is the main road through the Factor Four Area, and has been a key area for urban restoration. The road runs for 200 meters and is the main road that services the buildings in the Factor Four area, as well as a pedestrian route across campus. The goal of urban restoration is to find quick win projects with high visibility. These projects will engage students and get them involved on the changes taking place on the campus. These projects will improve the look and feel of this area of campus, while increasing sustainable practices.

Problem and/or Opportunity

Originally the road only had a sidewalk only on the North side of the road, and travel on the South side of the road was obstructed by multiple waste bins. Students exiting the Trades buildings (NE2, NE4 and NE6) would find themselves stepping out directly onto the street without any safety buffer. The goal is to make this area more pedestrian friendly, and to encourage a sustainable, creative industrial feel reminiscent of Granville Island.

Before Photos of Smith Street

Recommendations

Students in our Interior Design have been asked to explore low-cost changes that could be made to Smith Street under the “Factor Four restoration” theme. They then presented their ideas to a panel made up of instructors and staff from Campus Development, and the School of Construction and the Environment. The student ideas became the basis for many of the restoration projects. Three classes over three years have presented ideas so far, and these ideas have been the basis for a number of projects.

Student Ideas for Smith Street

: Student work by Prencice Chan, Nichole Sladan, Bryden Payer and Alison Lau

: Student work by Prencice Chan, Nichole Sladan. Bryden Payer and Alison Lau

: Student Work from Margarita Poliakova, Alice Wu and Jennifer Chou.

: Student work by Prencice Chan, Nichole Skladan, Bryden Payer and Alison Lau

: Student Work from Lauren Jackson and Devika Bhatawadeker.

: Student Work from Margarita Poliakova, Alice Wu and Jennifer Chou.

: Student Work by Shannon Knedlik, Vanessa Stark, and Rae Min.

: Student concept.

: Student work from Aarti Gandhi, Jane Campbell, Laura Martins & Meghan Pitt

The Factor Four team worked with Campus Development to relocate the waste bins and create a pedestrian walkway on the South side of the road which is delineated by planters and paint. Campus Development completed other improvements to the Factor Four Area, such as painting the lamp posts, and installing beautiful new doors on the three of the buildings. The AFRESH Home also received a fresh coat of paint. Student designed and installed a Moss Art wall on Smith Street beside the Piping yard.

The students recommended using lamppost banners to help identify the buildings and add colour. As part of the 50^th Anniversary celebrations, the Colour You Campus competition included a design challenge for the lamp post banners (per Factor Four team’s recommendations). Students from every program at BCIT could submit designs. The top designs were put to a public vote and banners created by Herman Ho Man Ho, from Web Design, were chosen: