Hapa Collaborative teamed with Hatch Mott MacDonald to develop design schemes for a new pedestrian bridge spanning the Canadian National rail lines at the outflow of MacKay Creek, providing a safe and convenient connection along North Vancouver’s waterfront as part of the Spirit Trail.

The landscape planting places an emphasis on indigenous trees and shrubs, to expand on the existing second-growth fir and alder forests adjacent to the bridgeheads and the creek corridor.

The signature landscape element includes a pedestrian node on the bridge deck that overlooks Mackay Creek and provides a rest spot at the highest prospect point on the bridge. In collaboration with the engineering team, Hapa developed a paving pattern and seating arrangement that mimics the creek’s channels, flows and eddies. Custom steel mesh seats provide a rest stop, a place for social interaction while allowing bicycle and pedestrian passage.