Gladstone Avenue Reconstruction & St. Luke’s Park Entrance
Urban Spaces & Streetscapes
Project Overview
Gladstone Avenue (Bank Street to Cartier Street) streetscaping and increased street tree planting.
Revitalization of St. Luke’s Park entrance, including Public Art component, in conjunction with Gladstone Avenue reconstruction.
Project Description
Based on the theme ‘Greening of Gladstone’, Gladstone Avenue Streetscaping involved planting selected trees with soil cell systems, site furnishings, and soft and hard pedestrian areas. The realignment of this road way improved pedestrian movement and significantly increased street tree planting.
Planting with adequate soil volume for trees along this section of Gladstone Avenue was challenging due to existing agreements with regard to street parking, laybys, private parking and garage entrances, as well as utilities space requirements. To help overcome the challenges, soil cell systems were integrated with hard surface or sodded tree pits. Existing street trees were also incorporated into the new soil cell system.
The soil cells allow new and existing trees to flourish by: 1) allowing a larger volume of soil per tree by extending soil volume under hard surfaces, and 2) protecting the soil from normal urban soil compaction, which stunts or kills many urban trees.
The number of street trees on this street was doubled, most were added where there were no trees before. The street tree planting, plus an improved pedestrian environment added green and vibrancy to the neighborhoods along the Gladstone Avenue Corridor.
Ruhland & Associates Ltd. worked with City of Ottawa Public Art committee to call for submissions for Public Art in the streetscape. ‘The Listening Tree’ by Mixed Metaphors (Jesse Stewart and Matt Edwards) was chosen to be included in the streetscape.
The right-of-way along Gladstone was not suitable for a large art installation, but the adjacent entrance to St Luke’s Park was, and provided an excellent opportunity for a visual connection between Gladstone Avenue, Elgin Street and St Luke’s Park. The entrance to the park was also upgraded to a plaza with new paving and planting. This plaza and artwork make a focal point to one end of the Gladstone Corridor Reconstruction and are an inviting entrance to St Luke’s Park.
Additional Details
Ruhland and Associates LTD. Role: Project Landscape Architects, Prime for Park Entrance, Subconsultant for Road Reconstruction.
Location: Gladstone Avenue (Bank Street to Cartier Street section), Ottawa
Date of Construction: 2014 – 2016
Owner: City of Ottawa
