Porpoise Bay

Porpoise Bay is a proposed residential and recreational community of over 1,000 units on an eighty-four acre site located two miles north of Sechelt overlooking Jervis Inlet.
Project Type
Urban Design
Location
Sechelt, BC
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The steeply sloping waterfront site is characterized by open meadows, large swaths of second growth forest, and an environmentally sensitive foreshore. The roads and development parcels follow the natural contours of the land closely, and are located in natural plateaus in order to minimize cut-and-fill conditions thus preserving existing trees.

“The underlying planning principle was to take full advantage of the spectacular waterfront setting with a site plan responsive to the topography, protected landscape features and introduced a wide range of housing forms with higher densities focused on a small village.”

In order to preserve a greater percentage of the site for parkland and greenbelts, more than a typical single-family subdivision, a proposed comprehensive planning strategy incorporated a variety of housing forms including: duplexes, side-by-side and stacked townhouses, three and four-storey apartments, and mixed-use housing. Higher density forms were located in a village centre.

The village centre provides amenities for the community. There is small commercial retail area with a general store, tourist services and post office, a marina with a public dock, a small lodge and restaurant, community hall and recreation centre with a swimming pool, racquetball, squash and tennis courts.