British Columbia Institute of Technology
IN-47: Innovation A

BCIT has completed the ecological restoration of a 3,860 m² gravel parking lot adjacent to Guichon Creek, using material dug out as part of the building excavation for the new Health Sciences Centre on the Burnaby campus.

The project was based upon a proposal by Ecological Restoration (ER) students. Several teams of ER students have developed restoration plans for sites on the Burnaby campus – utilizing the campus as a living laboratory (See AC-8 for more information). The students proposed restoring the parking lot to an upland riparian forest and their paper was referenced during the design phase of the project. One of these students is now an Instructor in the ER program and was involved in the restoration project. 

A landscaped natural area was designed to enhance the Guichon Creek watershed and reduce sediment run off into the creek – an ongoing problem with the old parking lot. Excavated materials (soil and boulders) from the construction of the new Health Science Centre were added to the site – reducing impacts from transporting and disposing of the material offsite. The area was contoured with natural features and a variety of habitat types were planted. This includes forested areas, a bioretention pond that feeds water back into the creek, and a pollinator garden.

Once the planting is fully established it will not only have restored the gravel area but will help control some of the invasive species that are currently in the forest beside the creek. An accessible gravel pedestrian path meanders through the area and was opened to the public once the vegetation was established.

Timelapse video showing vegetation growth in the first year: https://youtu.be/RnoiDS9NktM?si=YEeXxCfGsU8Gpgw3. This video also shows the Whole Building Performance Research Laboratory buildings featured in the buildings section of AC-8.

Read more about the project at the link below.