Be rest assured, that unsightly no-man's land around the edge of the new Prince George RCMP detachment will be transformed into something much more eye catching as the finishing touches on the landscaping are completed over the coming months.
White spruce, linden and red twig dogwood trees and a combination of junipers, lilacs and a variety of perennial grasses will be planted, said landscape architect Luc Deniger of IBI Group Inc., with the site split into a spring and a winter garden - the former featuring soft curves and the latter something more jagged.
But perhaps the most novel feature will be held in those gabion baskets sitting out in front of the building. The rocks along the bottom will be taken out and replaced with a layer of white glass rocks, each eight to 10 inches in diameter, and then covered with river rocks.
With the help of flexible light-emitting diodes, they will be illuminated at night, glowing sideways and upward, to provide an additional source of lighting on the pathways to accompany that coming from the "candlesticks" or the tall bollards along the pathways to the front entrances.
In keeping with the spirit of crime-prevention through environmental design, Deniger said the gabions - as well as the boulders situated along the front and sides - will act as barriers to prevent vehicles from being driven into the building, but with some elegance.
Deniger said the baskets are custom made out of oxidized steel and are meant to represent a common sight along the Fraser and Nechako Rivers during the winter months.
"The shapes are different, they're very angular shapes, some of them are flat, some of them are on an angle and some are straight up and that represents the buildup during the early spring, late winter, when the ice starts moving and damming up in places," Deniger said.
Deniger said he is the first one to admit it's unusual.
"But when we were going through the conceptual design, we were looking for something you could say is a bit less common or generic than boulders, it kind of becomes repetitive," he said. "We decided to go with something that's totally different that still symbolizes what we're trying to say but also kind of goes along with the overall character of the building."
The feature should work well all year round.
"That white source along with the snow in the wintertime, is going to create some interest and even in the summertime too, because you're going to see that white glow through the planting," Deniger said.
Originally meant to serve as temporary diking and retaining walls, Deniger said they've become popular among architects in the last few years.
"I was in Europe recently, an I saw the entire facade of a building - it was a winery, actually - that was gabion baskets," Deniger said.
In coming up with the general design, Deniger had to take into account the building's somewhat imposing facade.
"It's great architecture but it is imposing and the landscape serves also as a transition between the building itself and the streetscape," Deniger said. "That's why we had to start with some fairly tall vertical elements next to the building and then take them down to a more pedestrian scale when we get down to the sidewalk."
About $180,000 had been budgeted for the landscaping effort.
