Heights Bike Garden

Project

Year

2024

Location

Vancouver, Washington

Client

City of Vancouver, Washington

The Challenge

Activate the old Tower Mall site using low cost-big impact solutions.

The design and planning process for the project was guided by several key goals. These included creating a public space that encourages people to stay, gather, play, learn, and return, while ensuring it is safe, accessible, and conveniently located near other activities. The project aimed to integrate public art, local artists, bright colors, storytelling, and learning opportunities. It also focused on promoting environmental stewardship through education and raising awareness of sustainability. Enhancing community amenities to support a high quality of life, such as recreation facilities, cultural programs, and parks, was another priority. Ensuring public safety and the well-being of residents through community engagement was emphasized, along with fostering good governance through city and community collaborations. The project sought to strengthen inclusivity and equity by reaching out to diverse communities and providing necessary services and activities for their families. Additionally, it aimed to promote economic development by attracting customers to local businesses and improve transportation safety through education, enhanced systems, bicycle-friendly experiences, and behavioral changes.

The City of Vancouver purchased the now-demolished Vancouver Tower Mall to address the state’s housing needs and realize the city’s bold vision of building a world-class equitable development. The vision of the Tower Mall Redevelopment Area is to create a vibrant, connected neighborhood center, that seeks to promote community in an inclusive respectful, and equitable manner. The Heights District Plan has been adopted by the City Council and phase one is slated to break ground in 2026; however, the most concerning issue for the surrounding community is having a vast concrete and asphalt area sitting dormant for several years before real activity commences.

The Solution

Cultivating Safety and Confidence Through Playful Pedals

Vancouver’s first-ever bike garden is a miniature streetscape designed to help community members of all ages learn about cycling and pedestrian safety in a fun, interactive environment free from cars. These spaces are designed to provide a practical, hands-on way to learn about biking skills, road safety, and how traffic works. They serve as a controlled environment where kids can gain confidence and master these critical life-long skills.

In the United States, many children face a shortage of safe streets and infrastructure, limiting their ability to explore and navigate their surroundings. Furthermore, numerous children lack adult guidance to learn biking skills. This absence of early exposure to public infrastructure and safe practices makes them more vulnerable in real traffic situations. The Heights Bike Gardens tackles this problem by providing essential educational and safety benefits to the surrounding communities. The primary goal of our design is to create a safe environment for children to walk, roll, and ride bicycles. The design flexibility of our bike garden allows for unique and innovative installations of art, curiosity, joy, imagination, color, and fun, fostering community collaboration and enhancing the aesthetic appeal of the space.

Our magical Bike Garden will offer children and adults a practical, fun and safe way to develop cycling skills and learn about pedestrian road safety. The new bike garden will provide a temporary community use for the former Tower Mall property while our design team continues work on the Heights District Plan – a development plan for a vibrant, mixed-use, walkable neighborhood in the heart of Vancouver breaking ground in 2026.

The Impact

Creating the momentum for implementation

While the Heights Bike Garden may not represent a major planning effort, it significantly fills a crucial gap in the planning process. Many planning projects become ‘shelf plans’ or lack the necessary energy and momentum for implementation. The Heights District Project serves as the overarching redevelopment strategy, but the Heights Bike Garden acts as the catalyst, creating momentum for this larger initiative. Thanks to the excitement and enthusiasm generated by the Heights Bike Garden, the Heights District will avoid becoming just another shelf plan.
The Bike Garden proved to be an ideal project for the area, not only because it successfully activated the space but also because it provided a unique opportunity for face-to-face engagement about the neighborhood’s future.

By implementing the Bike Garden, Vancouver has set a precedent for other cities to follow, demonstrating how innovative, low-cost, and community-driven projects can effectively repurpose vacant lands. The project stands as a testament to the potential of thoughtful planning and design in enhancing urban spaces. It shows how interim uses can transform dormant sites into vibrant community assets that foster engagement and strengthen neighborhood ties.