Design is a constant record of the decisions we’ve made, the problems we have tried to solve, and the values we hold for the future. For many people visiting the now annual festival, Design Victoria is an opportunity to learn more about the role design plays in shaping the city. This year’s presenting sponsor, Reliance Properties, will celebrate the making of the city with focus on the Capital Iron Arts & Innovation District, a development that will anchor the creative sector in South Rock Bay, changing the landscape of downtown Victoria. Following the interview with Jon Stovell are comments from DAUSTUDIO's Principal Franc D'Ambrosio, a long-time collaborator with Reliance, on envisioning the area's potential.

Why did you choose to align with Design Victoria to highlight and promote the Capital Iron Arts & Innovation District? 

JS: We believe the future prosperity of our downtowns is rooted in the health and growth of our arts and culture sectors. The Arts and Innovation District will be the beating heart of that future for the downtown. Design Victoria gathers, supports and promotes the key leaders and innovators for that exciting future.

What are you most excited about in this project?

JS: We are excited by the mix, even collision, of uses: from marine industrial and industrial to retail, professional services, artist live work studios, residential, and the region's major art gallery. It is well known that innovation districts with these mixes of uses drive innovation, creativity and excitement.

What role does design play in Reliance's properties?

JS: We have always been a design forward developer and consider good design at every level crucial to the success of our projects. Creativity and design is an often underappreciated critical resource in real estate practice and that is why we made the largest ever private donation to the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

You have worked with DAUSTUDIO before. Why did you choose to work with them on this project?  

JS: DAU have a deep understanding of downtown Victoria and have a long held interest in its success. They have developed some of the largest downtown projects as well as master planned areas such as Selkirk Village. They were the obvious choice for the master plan for our Capital Culture District.

DAUSTUDIO principal Frank D’Ambrosio and his team created the urban design and architectural visualizations for the Capital Culture District. He shares his reflections on how the studio envisioned the Arts and Innovation District in South Rock Bay:

FD: Since the redevelopment of the Selkirk Waterfront in the early 1990's, and Dockside Green in the 2000’s the potential, emerging from the growth of the city along its harbour, were evident. These projects were unique, large-scale opportunities to creatively, and compatibly mix marine access and industry, commercial, institutional, and residential uses in an inclusive, urban form that was both functional and beautiful. When Reliance Properties commissioned DAU to help envision the future of the former Capital Iron properties south of Discovery Street in the Rock Bay District, it presented yet another such opportunity. 

Here was a place for many uses, a rich and expanded public realm, arts and culture, private enterprise, and an urban harbour edge, all integrated with the upland context of Victoria’s expanding city centre. The Project was a timely challenge to reimagine the derelict waterfront and underused properties, as a precedent-setting urban design for the City-initiated Arts and Innovation District. It proposes a setting and a catalyst for things like the Art Gallery and initiatives such as Design Victoria. A place envisioned in the Victoria 3.0 community plan. A place that celebrates the making of a livable City.

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