Semiahmoo is one of the longest-established retail nodes in South Surrey. It is located immediately adjacent to the City of White Rock, a long-established and affluent portion of Surrey that formed its own municipality, after a public vote several decades ago. Semiahmoo's geographical position creates a particular set of identity and place issues. Going down to the sea from Highway 99 along the major arterial of 152nd Street, only a small sign and a change of road design standards indicates that one has passed from Surrey into White Rock. Even local residents have difficulty identifying where one municipality ends and the other begins.

Semiahmoo also faces a changing retail landscape, with many ‘big box’ and national chain stores migrating to the rapidly expanding Grandview Crossing area east of Highway 99, already South Surrey's largest retail concentration. Improvement of the public realm and an increased density and range of housing choice is crucial to Semiahmoo's setting its own vital character, a future and identity separate from both White Rock and Grandview Crossing. With greater population densities (especially in apartments) and a more humane living and shopping environment, this southern portal to Surrey is a natural point to grow urbanity in an affluent and naturally-blessed corner of the city. High density architecture with verve and flare here linked to much-needed public space could do much to redefine Semiahmoo's Town Centre, making it urban and purposeful, rather than suburban and distracted.

Just a few blocks to the south of our site along 152nd Street, a local developer has constructed White Rock's latest ocean view high rise condo towers, which were met with considerable push-back by neighbours as being out of scale and character for this area of Metro Vancouver. The same company has purchased the small mall at the northwest corner of 152nd Street and 16th Avenue, at the southern gateway of Semiahmoo. This developer's plans to convert this site to multiple high rises with some retail have been delayed. This creates opportunities at our hypothetical site, three blocks to the north at the southwest corner of 152nd St. and 19th Avenue.

For TownShift proposals, we are requiring a housing density matched nowhere else in Surrey, save for small portions of Central City. The thesis to be tested here is whether high rise residential construction can be humanized through considered design, revenues from these discretionary increased densities funding a long-overdue public amenity–a Semiahmoo Town Centre Plaza. High rise residential and new public square will together form a desirable gateway into what will become a more and more pedestrian-oriented zone of South Surrey. Density together with amenity will make a sustainable lifestyle a reality here.

We are mandating Semiahmoo's first downtown public square along 152nd St., but also ask for proposals on how to temper this busy arterial itself–through plantings, bikeways, traffic management or other strategies. This is a high profile hilltop site near existing housing, so a palette of materials and forms is needed to acknowledge this building as an icon visible from afar, but also nurturing of the spaces around its base. Vancouver's trademark tower and podium building typology (see, for example, www.poto.ca) is neither required nor discouraged for this site–use your own intuition on issues of architectural expression and form, and be bold and playful, qualities this corner of Surrey could use.

* A Floor Area Ratio (size of new construction area divided by size of entire site) of no less than 3, nor more than 4.

* Condominium residential uses complemented by retail/office where appropriate.

* Opening onto 152nd Street, no less than 25% of site area to be designed as a downtown public square, with flanking new built forms and uses to give it definition and character.

* The area to be designed extends across 152nd Street, so improvements to the street should work in concert with your proposed architecture and new public plaza.

* No automobile storage is to be located above grade level, and garage/loading for the entire complex is to be accessed from a single curb cut on 19th Avenue.

1. A section from the buildings on the western edge of 152nd Street, cut through the new urban square looking towards new construction, and through the site past the east lot line to the adjacent structures (to indicate scale);
2. An aerial perspective or axonometric view of the whole complex looking south along 152nd St.;
3. A perspective of new square, view oriented towards the highest point of new construction.

1. One paragraph of no more than 100 words describing the architectural decisions and character of the proposal;
2. One paragraph of no more than 100 word describing the character and features of the new public square and/or the treatment of the adjacent arterial.

Both White Rock and South Surrey were homes to long-established Semiahmoo First Nation encampments, first recorded by British explorers in 1791. European settlement begins in the 1850's, when there is record of fur trapping in the heavy forests (evergreen trees as tall as condo towers!) which then covered the area. Permanent settlement follows the construction of the Semiahmoo Wagon Road in 1873, with a mail stagecoach to New Westminster daily. The route was surveyed by two former Royal Engineers, George Turner and Crimean war veteran Lewis Bonson. By 1889, the route had become known as the Semiahmoo Trail, and more recently commemorated as a ‘Surrey Heritage Trail.’ With its history as a road not a town there are virtually no remnants of 19th century construction in Semiahmoo.

Following the naming of New Westminster by Queen Victoria, the land south of the Fraser River was named Surrey by the first Clerk of the Municipal Council 1878, on the same London model of the County of Surrey located south of the River Thames (because of bends in the two rivers, both Canadian and British Surreys have a “Westminster” west of them!) British Columbia's Municipality of Surrey came into being in 1879, and its boundaries then included the area now know as White Rock. Surrey was incorporated as a city in 1993. White Rock separated from Surrey and became an independent municipality in 1957. The east-west boundary separating them is the centre line of 16th Avenue. Surrey developed the Semiahmoo Town Centre to create a complimentary presence to the adjacent and established White Rock town centre the two are in nearly every way co-joined.

Semiahmoo's Town Centre boundaries have been established to reflect the limits of existing commercial, retail and higher density housing. There are no buildings higher that six stories in the existing town centre, controlled by existing zoning, but questioned by developers and land owners. In keeping with Surrey's anti-sprawl wishes and increasing dedication to sustainability principles, there is an emerging consensus that higher densities are required. It is important to note that four blocks south of the Semiahmoo boundary, White Rock has recently constructed two of a four high rise condo towers. The owners of the Semahamioo Shopping Centre are planning to redevelop their property eventually with a series of high rise towers with new retail construction at grade level.

The Semiahmoo peninsula area is served by 4 major routes: Highway 99 connecting the USA border (where it becomes Interstate-5) to the Vancouver area, also serves as major commuter corridor to Vancouver (via Hwy 91 and Highway 99's Massey tunnel to downtown Vancouver, and Highway 91 over the Knight Street Bridge to East Vancouver.) The former major north-south route —the King George Highway— runs in parallel to Hwy 99, and is one of Surrey's most important arterial streets. Direct bus connections are to Newton Town Centre, City Centre and Guildford Town Centre; with other destinations via connections at Cloverdale or Fleetwood. Local residents are pushing for expanded road connections from the Semiahmoo peninsula to HWY 99, plus new on & off ramps at 32nd/152 crossing, 24th Ave and 16th Ave. These will provide better access for commuters as well as providing easier access for travelers from the USA border crossing to access the rapidly-growing Grandview Crossing retail areas.

There is increasing need for within-area work commuting due to large scale new retail development (Grandview Corner & Campbell Heights), which also increases the desire of connections using walking & bike paths. Commuter routes are to all areas of the Lower Mainland, with close to 80% of travel destination remaining South of the Fraser meaning that most people do not need to cross this major transportation obstacle for work or shopping. Growth in the area indicates growing need for local and regional public transit connections. Expanding service options with B-line (dedicated bus lanes served by articulated units) might evolve into surface-level light rail lines, especially if residential densities are increased to warrant the service.

Local residents have expressed wishes to make the Semiahmoo Town Centre as pedestrian-friendly as possible, with easier access to cross existing arterials. Adjacent White Rock town centre has introduced traffic calming measures and mid block pedestrian crossings, not used in Surrey to date. It is important to note that both White Rock and Semiahmoo town centres have a large and growing elderly populations having mobility challenges. Currently the connections to City Centre and the other town centres are based on road networks, in particular bus and car connections. The brave bicyclist at this time use shoulder based cycle 'paths' marked on existing streets.