Thomson Family Park
Client | City of Calgary
Status | Completed 2016
Project Type | Urban Park
The re-imagined Thomson Family Park reunites the community to its largest urban greenspace. For the past 80 years two thirds of the site had been occupied by an exclusive use lawn bowling facility, and the remaining park area hosted a playground and picnic area that was plagued with anti-social behaviour and activities.
The history of the site was integral to the park design, and conventional interpretive approaches were avoided in favour of a focused story line. The leaning rail is in the location of the original porch clubhouse, the curved walkway reflective of the path of a lawn bowl, the pavilion form derived from the geometry of a lawn bowl trajectory, and the paving grid on the site reflective of lane spacing.
Thomson family Park fosters community. Bold design interventions respectively integrated with consolidated greenspaces provide a park experience never exhibited before in the City of Calgary. Distinctive overhead lighting, 75 meter long fountain, graffiti wall, an urban playground, a park pavilion with 5 meter long cantilevered roof deck, illuminated fin walls and sunken greens bookending the site provide a variety of experiences that have proven a desirable draw for the community.
