Watermark: Uncovering potentials in Halifax's hidden waterways

The interaction with daily and seasonal cycles of water has the potential to initiate a change in the social value placed on urban water within Halifax, Nova Scotia. Along the peninsula's central topographical depression a series of open spaces trace the former Freshwater Creek pathway. Daylighting this creek initiates the design of an ecological infrastructure that removes Halifax's storm water from the combined sewer system into a naturally filtering re-surfaced waterway. A bicycle/pedestrian pathway reinforces the green corridor and connects programmed sites in the open spaces. The study focuses on one site in the south end of the city where the excavation of infill uncovers a bedrock ravine and the architecture responds to subsurface levels of the urban landscape. Strategies developed at the scale of building and detail inform other sites along the pathway, creating a network of community centres that engage the historical and ecological significance of the creek.