THESIS: Urban Design and Development of a Public Space

Urban Design and Development of a Public Space at the City of Kitchener’s Intermodal Transit Hub

Abstract by Tahoora Alimohammadi

This thesis uses a case study approach at the proposed Transit Hub for the City of Kitchener to focus on opportunities for a high quality public space/square to better integrate a new LRT line and a new GO/VIA rail station into the surrounding city. The conceptual framework of this thesis is to create a public space at Kitchener transit hub in order to transform the space into a new interface where people can experience a fulfilling urban life. This design proposal seeks to create an intimate relationship between public life, infrastructure and people. In addition, this proposal envisions a series of diagrams of the Edward T. Hall’s Proxemics strategy, a non-contact communication, to experiment with the adequacy of all the defined spaces.

Within the city of Kitchener, much has already been done to establish the presence of urban design at the human scale, to integrate contemporary ideas into the design of buildings, and to enhance historic natural retreats like Victoria Park. However, little has been done to integrate the expanded opportunities for new design of work and living opportunities in the city center with the proposal of a new intermodal transit hub in the heart of that growing downtown core.

The combination of both of those aspects will look at how to create a healthy, people-oriented public environment that will also transfer people from one mode of transit to another. With the surrounding new mixed-use developments and the heritage architecture of Kitchener’s industrial past, the case study demonstrates the typical situation facing most urban centres undertaking transit expansion in Ontario.

Supervisor: Val Rynnimeri, University of Waterloo

Committee Members:

Terri Boake, University of Waterloo

Reema Masri, Masri O Inc. Architects

External Reader: Patrick Simmons, Robertson Simmons Architects Inc.

The defence examination will take place on Thursday November 26, 2015 at 1:30pm in ARC 2003 at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture.

A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.