Kingston Park Revitalization

The Kingston Park Revitalization project is a seven hectare multi-use regional park located in Chatham, Ontario. The team at Brown + Storey Architects was awarded the contract in early 2010 by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. Brown + Storey worked closely with the municipality and the community through a series of public meetings to develop a sophisticated and exciting programnme that forms the basis for the design and organization of the new parkscape.

‘Revitalization’ is a term that is often used to describe many different kinds of projects. In our experience, we have taken the term to be more about finding those elements that act as catalysts to spur a transformation – a new beginning. It means looking at the park with fresh viewpoints – mapping and evaluating many of its physical and perceptual attributes and characteristics, and finding those strategic directions that will create new energy. The integrated relationships of homes and park land, mixes of programming, and relating these to a comprehensive understanding of the infrastructure – water, movement, lighting, cultural, and more topically, an environmental approach that improves and considers each aspect of park design.

A rendered concept plan of the Kingston Park Revitalization.

Conceptual diagrams produced by Brown+Storey Architects during the design of the Kingston Park Revitalization.

Water Feature

The main feature of the park is the water feature and playground area. The splashpad features a long line of vertical geysers flanked by areas of mist, active play and a large dumping bucket. Adjacent to the waterplay area, a long open pergola structure provides the central facilities for the park operations, washrooms, offices, maintenance and even water treatment. The fountain system is designed to be a completely re-circulating system – water is continually drained back to the building, treated by a state-of-the-art set of UV filters and pumped back to the spray fixtures. The park also provides a wide range of amenities including large covered pavilions, long looping pathways that create numerous circuits around the park and multi-use areas and spaces for park activities to happen during all seasons.

The new Waterplay Area at Kingston Park immediately became a popular local destination.

The new Kingston Park pavilion recycled wood from local ash trees claimed by the Emerald Ash Borer.

The water play features introduced to Kingston Park continue to be popular in 2013.

Close-up of the swimming pool concrete recycled by Brown+Storey into Kingston Park’s paths.

The park revitalization prepared by Brown+Storey Architects integrated an existing ‘toboggan hill’ into the park’s path and occupation system, and recycled concrete from an old public swimming pool as a ceremonial path.

A view of the centrepiece play area designed by Dan Euser WaterArchitecture.

The Kingston Park revitalization added a system of formal and informal paths and spaces that can be walked, explored and occupied.

The park pavilion is designed both to provide shelter and to frame new and surprising views of the park and its surroundings.

The new pavilions at Chatham-Kent’s Kingston Park repurposed wood from ash trees lost to the Emerald Ash Borer.

Kingston Park opened on July 23, 2011 and was welcomed by the community and its many users that now have a place to go and have fun all year round.

Awards

2012 Ontario Wood WORKS! Award: Institutional and Commercial Wood Design
2012 Parks and Recreation Ontario Award: Excellence in Design
2011 Communities in Bloom Award: Landscape Ontario Green for Life – Park Award