Design Guidelines

Guideline 1

Align streetwall buildings with the existing built form or with the average setback of the adjacent buildings in order to create a visually continuous streetscape (Figure 1).    

Figure 1: Similar building setbacks create a strong street edge.  

Guideline 2

Plant clusters of trees on the flanking residential streets, where they meet the mainstreet, for additional greenspace (Figure 2).    

Figure 2: New trees planted on the right, where the residential street meets the mainstreet, add green and help buffer the neighbourhood.  

Guideline 3

Provide or restore a minimum 2.0 metre wide concrete sidewalk and locate to match approved streetscape design plans for the area. Where there is no approved streetscape plan, match the existing context. Provide a boulevard for street furniture, trees, and utilities; next to the sidewalk where possible. Provide an area adjacent to storefronts for canopies, outdoor patios or special merchant displays (the frontage zone). Create wider sidewalks for locations with high pedestrian volumes such as along traditional mainstreets in core urban areas (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Streetscape section and plan showing the boulevard, sidewalk and area for retail amenity (frontage zone).  

Guideline 4

Use periodic breaks in the street wall or minor variations in building setback and alignment to add interest to the streetscape and to provide space for activities adjacent to the sidewalk (Figures 3 & 4 ).  

Figure 4: Small variations in building alignment add interest to the street.  

Guideline 5

Locate streetscape elements in the boulevard clear of the unobstructed 2.0 metre sidewalk, including trees, paving, benches , newspaper boxes, bicycle parking, and parking meters.  

Guideline 6

Create attractive public and semi-public outdoor amenity spaces such as green spaces with trees, pocket parks, courtyards, outdoor cafés, seating and decorative pools or fountains (Figure 5).    

Figure 5: Outdoor cafés provide amenity space to the mainstreet and open the corner to more light and air.  

Guideline 7

Cluster or group streetscape elements and utilities wherever possible to minimize clutter. Coordinate tree and street light locations with above and below-grade utilities.

Guideline 8

Design quality buildings that are rich in architectural detail and respect the rhythm and pattern of the existing or planned buildings on the street, through the alignment of elements such as windows, front doors, cornice lines, and fascias. (Figure 6).    

Figure 6: Infill development respects its context.  

Guideline 9

Ensure sufficient light and privacy for residential and institutional properties to the rear by ensuring that new development is compatible and sensitive with adjacent uses with regard to maximizing light and minimizing overlook.  

Guideline 10

Design street sections with a ratio of building height to road corridor width of between 1:1 and 1:3. A ratio of 1:1 is appropriate for urban core areas, while a ratio of 1:2 to 1:3 is ideal for other traditional mainstreets (Figures 7 and 8).

Figure 7: A ratio of 1:1 (in this example 18m represents 1) for building height to right-of-way width produces a comfortable sense of enclosure.

Figure 8: Street section ratios evolve from 1:3 to 1:1 as a street intensifies.  

Guideline 11

Use clear windows and doors, to make the pedestrian level façade of walls facing the street highly transparent, and locate active pedestrian-oriented uses at-grade (Figure 9).

Figure 9: A highly visible street-level storefront animates the streetscape.  

Guideline 12

Set back the upper floors of taller buildings to help achieve a human scale and more light on the sidewalks (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Buildings set back above 3-4 storeys preserve a human scale and allow more light to reach the sidewalk.  

Guideline 13

Locate residential units above the level of vehicular traffic in a mixed-use building and provide shared entrances to residential units, clearly accessible from the street. (For these units, consider triple glazed windows and bedrooms located away from the mainstreet for noise and ventilation concerns).  

Guideline 14

Locate mixed-use development   by concentrating height and mass at nodes and gateways (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Major intersections are good locations for taller buildings.  

Guideline 15

Ensure adequate sunlight for sidewalks by building within a 45-degree angular plane measured from the opposite sidewalk curb (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Building within sun angle envelopes helps ensure adequate light on mainstreet sidewalks.  

Guideline 16

Highlight buildings on corner sites, where two public streets intersect, with special treatment such as a corner entrance. Continue the same level of architectural detailing around both sides of the building (Figure 13).

Figure 13: Architectural detail enhances the streetscape on the public sides of a corner building.  

Guideline 17

Provide pedestrian weather protection such as colonnades, individual canopies, awnings and balconies (Figure 14).

Figure 14: Individual canopies provide weather protection and animate the streetscape.

Guideline 18

Provide sheltered bicycle parking in visible locations near building entrances and pedestrian walkways. Ensure that these locations minimize conflict with pedestrians (Figure 15).    

Figure 15: Sheltered bicycle parking located by the front door.  

Guideline 19

Locate front doors to face the mainstreet and be directly accessible from the public sidewalk.  

Guideline 20

Design pedestrian walkways of materials such as concrete or unit pavers that are easily maintained for safety.

Guideline 21

Create inviting, well-lit pedestrian walkways to link rear parking areas to the public sidewalk/street (Figure 16).

Figure 16: Pedestrian walkways link the mainstreet to parking behind and provide room for tree planting.

Guideline 22

Share vehicular access to parking areas between adjacent properties in order to reduce the extent of interruption along the sidewalk and the streetscape. (Figure 17).    

Figure 17: Rear parking lots provide continuous streetscapes for pedestrians in front and more parking on the mainstreet.  

Guideline 23

Locate surface parking in the rear yard with vehicular access off side streets and laneways.  

Guideline 24

Preserve the rear, existing vehicular public laneway system wherever possible. Re-activate laneways where they have become dormant.

Guideline 25

Provide a minimum 3.0 metre wide landscape area along the edge of a site where parking areas, drive lanes or stacking lanes are adjacent to a public street.   Use trees, shrubs and low walls to screen cars from view while allowing eye level visibility into the site (Figure 18).

Figure 18: Low walls and planting visually screen parking from the public sidewalk.  

Guideline 26

Where properties are landlocked in the middle of the block and no other alternative exists, vehicular driveways can be provided off the mainstreet.

Guideline 27

Provide only the minimum number of required car parking spaces . Consider parking on the mainstreet.

Guideline 28

Select trees, shrubs and other vegetation considering their tolerance to urban conditions such as road salt or heat. Give preference to native species of the region that are of equal suitability.  

Guideline 29

Protect and feature heritage, specimen and mature trees on site by minimizing grade changes.  

Guideline 30

Plant street trees between 6.0 and 8.0 metres apart along public streets and internal pedestrian walkways. Plant trees in permeable surfaces with approximately 10.0 square metres of soil area per tree.  

Guideline 31

Provide a minimum 3.0 metre wide landscape area, which may include a solid wall or fence in addition to planting, at the edges of sites adjacent to residential or institutional properties.

Guideline 32

Use green building technologies such as green roofs, drip irrigation, and other Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) approaches.

Guideline 33

Design buildings to include defined spaces to accommodate signs that respect building scale, architectural features, signage uniformity and established streetscape design objectives (Figure 19).    

Figure 19: Compact signs fit in with the design of the building.  

Guideline 34

Design sign illumination to be task oriented and avoid glare/light spillover toward adjacent land uses.  

Guideline 35

Eliminate visual clutter.  

Guideline 36

Place temporary signs where they are clear of pedestrian travel.

Guideline 37

Share service and utility areas between different users within a single building or among different buildings.  

Guideline 38

Enclose all utility equipment within buildings or screen them from both the traditional mainstreet and private properties to the rear. These include utility boxes, garbage and recycling container storage, loading docks, ramps, air conditioner compressors, utility meters and transformers. 

Guideline 39

Plant street trees between 6.0 and 8.0 metres apart along public streets and internal pedestrian walkways. Plant trees in permeable surfaces with approximately 10.0 square metres of soil area per tree.  

Guideline 40

Design lighting so that there is no glare or light spilling onto surrounding uses.

Guideline 41

Provide lighting that is appropriate to the street character and mainstreet ground-floor use, with a focus on pedestrian areas.