New strategy livens up downtown Vancouver laneways by 2028

New strategy livens up downtown Vancouver's laneways over the next five years through 2028

Before and after; preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of Granville Laneway. (HCMA/Downtown Van)

Encouraged by the continued success of its first laneway project of the Alley Oop laneway nearly a decade ago, Downtown Van — the local business improvement association (BIA) for downtown Vancouver’s Central Business District — now has ambitious plans to carry out further immense laneway transformations and activations over the next five years between 2024 and 2029.

Working with HCMA Architecture & Design, Downtown Van has created a new comprehensive strategy for activating select stretches of laneways just off Granville Street and Hornby Street, and between Waterfront Station and the Vancouver Art Gallery’s West Georgia Street Plaza.

Such activated laneway spaces are intended to be immersive and interactive, oriented for pedestrians, social hubs as unexpected event and gathering destinations, and “spaces that evoke joy.”

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“We are excited to launch the new Vancouver’s Awesome Alleys Strategy alongside hcma,” said Jane Talbot, president and CEO of Downtown Van, in a statement today.

“We saw great success with our previous collaborations like Alley Oop and Ackery’s Alley and we believe this new five-year plan will further enhance our urban landscape, creating vibrant spaces that connect our community.”

To date, Downtown Van’s most extensive laneway activation is the 2016-completed Alley Oop laneway, located near the intersection of Granville and West Pender streets. It is highly visually distinct for its bright pink and yellow coloured paint on the roadway and building surfaces, and its design has attracted international attention — everything from multiple design awards including recognition from the International Olympic Committee’s sports and leisure design facilities awards to being prominently featured in a viral music video by famous South Korean K-pop group Twice.

Over the subsequent years before the pandemic, the BIA also performed laneway transformations for Ackery’s Alley (outside the Orpheum Theatre at Granville Street), which featured both paint and an interactive digital installation, and Eihu Lane (the laneway wedged by Robson Street and Alberni Street between Burrard Street and Bute Street), which used the building doors along the laneway as framed canvases for murals.

Ackery’s Alley and Eihu Lane were smaller projects compared to Alley Oop.

Alley Oop laneway south of West Pender Street between Granville Street and Seymour Street. (Mark Busse)

Twice performing “Likey” in downtown Vancouver’s Alley Oop pink alley. (JYP Entertainment/YouTube screenshot)

Ackery’s Alley next to the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Vancouver. (Downtown Van)

Downtown Van and HCMA also previously worked together to create these previous three pre-pandemic laneway transformations, including Alley Oop.

“Transforming laneways into unexpected public spaces brings vibrancy to our downtown core,” said Kim Winston, HCMA’s director of community projects at HCMA, who suggested that this work is inspired by the vibrant laneways of cities such as Melbourne and Tokyo.

In late 2020, amidst the pandemic, the BIA supported the new Indigenous murals that transformed a short section of a laneway called Snéḵwem Alley, near the southwest corner of the intersection of Granville and West Pender streets (next to Starbucks Reserve).

Moving forward over the next five years, Downtown Van has indicated that its forthcoming additional laneway transformations will have a comparable scope and budget to Alley Oop, the project that started it all.

The strategy identifies “transformation” methods, which centre on providing physical upgrades and additions that make a space more attractive, and “activation” methods, which focus on events and programming to bring a space to life following the “transformation “work.

According to the BIA, the laneways across the Central Business District represent 30% of all publicly owned space in the area. Livening up these spaces could enhance urban life, attract more people to downtown Vancouver, and support local businesses and tourism.

The first phase of the strategy spans through 2028, while the second phase will be carried out beyond 2028.

Phases 1 and 2: Map of future laneway projects in downtown Vancouver. (Downtown Van)

Phase 1: Map of future laneway projects in downtown Vancouver. (Downtown Van)

Phase 2: Map of future laneway projects in downtown Vancouver. (Downtown Van)

Map of existing and future laneway projects in downtown Vancouver. (Downtown Van)

The potentially most transformative and extensive laneway transformation is within the first phase of the project of livening up a T-shaped laneway area — named the “Hornby Laneway” — located south of West Pender Street between Hornby and Howe streets. It could be ready by Summer 2025.

A shorter laneway transformation within the first phase is planned for the southernmost end of the laneway immediately north of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s West Georgia Plaza, adjacent to RBC Place (formerly HSBC Canada tower) and the Rosewood Hotel Georgia. This “Hornby/Georgia Laneway” could also be ready by 2025, but later in the year.

Additionally, another large first-phase laneway transformation is eyed for the laneway south of West Pender Street between Granville and Seymour streets. This “Granville Laneway” could be ready by late 2026.

Preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of Hornby Laneway. (HCMA/Downtown Van)

Preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of Hornby/Georgia Laneway. (HCMA/Downtown Van)

Preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of Granville Laneway. (HCMA/Downtown Van)

As for the second phase transformations, the strategy lists the laneways near the southwest corner of the intersection of Hornby and Dunsmuir streets and the northwest corner of the intersection of Hornby and West Pender streets, and two laneways south of the intersection of Seymour and Dunsmuir streets.

Each laneway transformation will take about 18 months to go through the design, permitting, and installation process. The first and second phase projects are expected to carry an installation cost of $100,000 to $250,000 per laneway, plus a maintenance budget of $25,000 per laneway, based on 2023 dollars. This is highly comparable to the cost of creating Alley Oop after accounting for inflation since 2016, with a 2023 transformation cost of $200,000, plus $55,000 for repainting costs.

Between 2024 and 2028, Downtown Van is looking to spend a combined total of nearly $1.5 million on the first phase laneway projects, including $860,000 on transformation work, $170,000 for activation work, and $416,000 for maintenance work. The total budget for 2025 is pegged at $242,000, including $160,000 for transformation, $20,000 for activation, and $77,000 for maintenance. Currently, the BIA’s existing budget allows for an average of $280,000 per year for this specific strategy.

According to Downtown Van’s budget submission to the City of Vancouver earlier this year, the BIA has a total budget of $6.76 million for the current fiscal year, including nearly $800,000 for the wide range of initiatives related to public spaces and placemaking.

Centre Place, Melbourne Laneways. (Tourism Australia)

Some of the logistical challenges with optimizing the laneway transformations and pedestrianization are the building servicing uses, business loading, and parkade entrances within laneways.

Over the longer term, Downtown Van wants to work with the City to speed up permitting for laneway transformation and activation projects, consolidate garbage/recycling bins in the laneways and reschedule pickup times to off-peak hours, and pursue public funding and private sponsorships to help cover costs.

The strategy also calls for the City of Vancouver to create planning and building development policies that encourage developers and property owners to incorporate active frontage and commercial retail units fronting the laneway.

The “Vancouver’s Awesome Alleys Strategy” is Downtown Van’s largest placemaking exercise since their 2021-released report outlining their vision of revitalizing the Granville Entertainment District.

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