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Saigon Park – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist
May 11, 2022
Photo By Aquafor Beech Limited
The new entrance to Saigon Park, named in honour of the Vietnamese-Canadian community who found refuge in Canada during the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. The dedication of the park to the local Vietnamese-Canadian community has led to the formation of the Saigon Park Working Group who aims to use the space to commemorate the history of the Vietnamese community in Canada.
Photo By Aquafor Beech Limited
A view through native plantings to a terraced seating area that allows the public to venture down towards the water’s edge. In the future, mature trees will offer a shaded spaces for picnics and seating on the grassed terraces.
Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Developer: City of Mississauga
Designers: Aquafor Beech Limited; Schollen and Company Inc.
Site Size: 11 Hectares
Photo By Aquafor Beech Limited
The Park Plaza provides a dramatic point of entry to the park. The plaza offers a large public art installation, shade structures and a range of seating options including those that are wheelchair accessible. A concrete inlay depicts the Cooksville Creek Watershed educating the public on the role the Park plays within the wider hydrologic system.
Saigon Park is a model for 21st century open space design providing multifunctional public space that includes recreational amenities and green stormwater infrastructure in close proximity to the City of Mississauga’s downtown core.
The park, located within a highly urbanized area 10km from Lake Ontario at the headwaters of Cooksville Creek, is ideally situated to treat runoff and mitigate flood risk. A flood event in 2009 caused significant damage to homes and infrastructure and triggered the development of the park with the goal of reducing downstream flooding and improving water quality while simultaneously creating a social, recreational, and cultural destination.
Photo By Aquafor Beech Limited
The wetland provides the final stage of stormwater treatment before outletting to Cooksville Creek.
The park encompasses a 2.7ha constructed lake and wetland that provides stormwater treatment and flood control for a 500-hectare contributing drainage area. The lake is integrated with over a kilometer of trails, two lookout areas, three fitness stations and a grassy terraced seating area that provides contemplative space and opportunity to interact with water. Public art installations at the park’s entrance act as a landmark and reconnect residents with the watershed by communicating the park’s value and function within the broader ecological context.
Photo By Ferruccio Sardella
The art piece is composed of four steel panels, representing the four seasons and each contain four vertical columns representing the months within that season. Hieroglyphs are used to depict the weather conditions that occurred that month as well as corresponding moon cycles, average temperatures, precipitation and wind patterns.
The park has become a green oasis within a highly commercial and industrial area of the city and its popularity has soared, with visitors driving long distances to use the space for daily exercise, wildlife photography and social gatherings. However, the park’s greatest impact has been as a symbol of cultural diversity within the city, celebrating the Vietnamese-Canadian community who found refuge in Canada in 1975. Following the park’s dedication, the Vietnamese community has taken ownership of the space and their investment and stewardship drive the long-term success of Saigon Park.