East Clayton Greenfield Project




The City of Surrey is currently engaged in ambitious efforts to develop a greenfield site in much "smarter" ways than in the past. The proposed East Clayton Project plan, in the eastern part of Surrey, was created by a design charrette process led by the James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Livable Environments, at the University of British Columbia.

The East Clayton Project plan envisions a compact community with higher than average densities, a mix of housing types, an interconnected street network, and a natural drainage system. The development area includes over 560 acres of land that will eventually provide homes for over 13,000 people.

It is anticipated that units will cost 20-30% less than a standard home in the same area, and secondary suites will provide a mortgage aid for homeowners while providing good housing for lower income families.

Jobs will be located close to homes, and home-based work opportunities will be provided in the region's first live/work area located outside of the City of Vancouver.

A "Rapid Bus" will connect all residents to major employment, shopping, and cultural centres to the east and west. It is hoped about 40% fewer cars will be required to service the needs of these residents.

Guiding principles of the East Clayton Project include:

  • Conserve land and energy by designing compact walkable neighborhoods.
This will encourage pedestrian activities where basic services (e.g., schools, parks, transit, shops, etc.) are within a five- to six- minute walk of their homes. Two schools/major parks are to be located centrally within the community and among residential uses, and each smaller residential area is to be organized around a central neighborhood green. Each neighborhood is to have a neighborhood commercial area that provides a working and shopping place for people within walking distance for their residence.
  • Provide different dwelling types (a mix of housing types, including a broad range of densities from single-family homes to apartment buildings) in the same neighborhood and even on the same street.
The types of housing offered by this plan include multiple-unit residential in the form
of apartments and fee-simple ground-oriented townhouses, single-family homes on small-to-medium-sized lots, live/work and mixed-use commercial/residential housing.
  • Communities are designed for people; therefore, all dwellings should present a friendly face to the street in order to promote social interaction. 
  • Ensure that car storage and services are handled at the rear of the dwellings.
  • Provide an interconnected street network, in a grid or modified grid pattern, to ensure a variety of itineraries and to disperse traffic congestion, and provide public transit to connect East Clayton with the surrounding region.
  • Provide narrow streets shaded by rows of trees in order to save costs and to provide a greener, friendlier environment.
Narrow and curbless streets allow water to infiltrate directly into the infiltration zone, and street trees are closely spaced to provide ample shade for pedestrian.
  • Preserve the natural environment and promote natural drainage systems (in which storm water is held on the surface and permitted to seep naturally into the ground).

Green Features

The backbone of the plan's ecological infrastructure is its linked system of streets and open spaces, which includes local streets, major and minor parks, schools, riparian protection areas, tree preservation areas, neighborhood parks, and buffers. Permeable paving materials will be required for driveway, parking pads and parking courts.

Climate Response

Buildings are to be oriented to provide primary living space to receive ample direct sunlight. Other design features allow low winter sun (but not the high summer sun) to penetrate the unit. Wherever possible, principal rooms are to have windows on two walls in order to provide balanced day-lighting and to facilitate natural cooling and ventilation.

Transportation

By creating a human-friendly neighborhood with a rich overall character, East Clayton will encourage walking and cycling to local destinations. Techniques will include:

  • Relation of buildings to street are to be enhanced by setting Building Footprint Standards for building coverage and height, for parking and garages, front setbacks, building orientation, entries, porches, front yards, and coach houses.
  • Built form and materials are to be articulated, including built form diversity, building massing, roof forms and windows.
  • Environmental design issues such as climatic response, view, topography, useable outdoor space and crime prevention are considered.
  • Neighbourhood commercial areas are situated so that residents are within 400-metre (5-minute) walking distance.
  • Live-Work areas reduce home owners' commuting times.

Ecological Infrastructure

The major objectives of establishing ecological infrastructure are:
  • To reduce immediate as well as life cycle costs of the storm drainage system.
  • To protect and enhance the environment.
  • To protect habitat, especially fish habitat.
  • To maintain stream hydrology and stream water quality.
  • To eliminate the need for removing soil from the site.
The performance standard and guidelines of the Infiltration Best Management Practices (BMPs), Urban Forest and Soil Preservation are set up to apply to the building site, streets and public green spaces. Infiltration enhancement can be accomplished via infiltration device designs and configuration. These devices are to be designed to ensure at least 30 years of trouble-free operation under normal use. Residential yards, trees on street right-of-way, school/park sites, riparian parks, neighbourhood parks and greenways are important element in the urban forestry strategy for East Clayton.

Performance Measures

While the seven planning principles provide the general parameters for sustainable planning and design in the East Clayton Project, the following are feasible targets for performance in the areas of ecological, economy and equity. These performance targets are derived from local, regional and provincial policies relating to sustainable development over the past decade. These performance targets construct the evaluation framework for the plan.

Ecology

To improve air quality by reducing auto use:
  • ensure that commercial and transit services are to be within a 400-metre walkable radius of all residents
  • ensure a 25% reduction in travel-related CO2 emissions generated per capita and corresponding increase in air quality

To maintain stream health and to enhance habitat:

  • maintain or enhance ecological performance of native aquatic habitats
  • ensure that 60% of parks, riparian areas and greenways have significant habitat
  • value
  • maintain existing base flow level in all on-site and off-site stream channels
  • maintain stream temperature
  • eliminate storm surge
  • eliminate water pollution

Equity

  • Provide one job per 2.8 community residents.
  • Provide a variety of unit types appropriate to citizens of all ages and family types.
  • Provide at least 20% of affordable rental housing relative to income distributionand family size of the surrounding communities — with an emphasis on affordable family housing — throughout the community.

Economy

  • Orient all residential units so that they maximize passive solar heating.
  • Reduce cost of infrastructure by 20%.
  • Increase efficiency of land by 30%.
  • Incorporate imaginative financing devices (i.e., mortgage helpers in the form of secondary suites and live/work).
  • Reduce base cost of housing by 25% per square foot.

Please click here for more information on the Surrey Design Charrette. 

For more information on the East Clayton Neighborhood Concept Plan:
Patrick Condon, ASLA (Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture)
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4
Tel: (604) 822-9291
Email: Patrick Condon