Client: Friends of Upper Fort Garry

Overview

This one-of-a-kind urban park in downtown Winnipeg invites visitors to interact with stories of the Upper Fort – through sculpture, audio/video, web and mobile technologies. Pattern was one of three design partners on the team, and was responsible for the design and technical execution of the wall’s illustrations, screen, website, and mobile application.

Upper Fort Garry holds an important place in Canadian history, with several notable events occurring at the Fort that shaped the country’s earliest days. The Friends of Upper Fort Garry envisioned a multi-use park that told those stories in both tangible and interpretive ways. The site proved to be a unique challenge, from a historical and logistical standpoint; therefore, a large team of experts in Canadian and Indigenous history, interpretation, archeology, architecture, and digital media was assembled to tackle the challenge. These experts were consulted throughout the process, and their input and knowledge were invaluable in achieving the one-of-a-kind solution that has enriched Winnipeg’s downtown culture tremendously.

Goals

Pattern was challenged to design and build a unique storytelling solution that fused sculpture and technology. The result is the weathering steel “storyline” illustrations and accompanying LED “pixel” screen. These elements are the primary storytelling components of the wall that was engineered to life by the team at Cohlmeyer Architecture.

At over 400 feet long and 13 feet high, the Heritage Wall is comprised of three layers of “weathering” steel that curve up and down the length of the wall to create unique illustrations of symbols and stories that tell the history of Upper Fort Garry. Walking from the south end of the wall towards the north gate, the storyline acts as a chronological depiction of significant historical events that surrounded the Fort, telling the region’s story through the evolution of trade and governance and the role of Upper Fort Garry.

In addition to the steel illustrations, over 7000 one-inch holes are punched out of the top layer of steel, each housing a cluster of LEDs. Together, these lights form a coarse, custom screen for showing dynamic, abstracted interpretations of key themes from the Fort’s history.

Process

The unique design of the wall, and its unconventional use of heavy, rough weathering steel to create curving, layered shapes (not to mention the thousands of holes that were to be punched out at specific intervals, one hole at a time) required close communication and collaboration between all stakeholders in the design and fabrication process.

Alongside the complex manufacturing of the wall, there was the challenge of the unique “pixel screen” that ran the length of it. In order to ensure a robust, Winnipeg-weather-friendly solution, Pattern partnered with Daktronics in South Dakota.

It was decided to use an LED “stick” consisting of 4 clusters of LEDs, spaced at 5 inch and 2.5 inch intervals. These durable sticks could be daisy-chained together like LEGO, and so if one LED needed replacing, a simple swap with a new stick ensured a sustainable long-term solution.

In the 9 years since the Park has been open, the durability and reliability of these solutions has underscored the attention that was taken in the design and planning stages of the wall and screen.

Additional Information

The Friends of Upper Fort Garry wanted to ensure there was a strong educational component to the park experience. The Upper Fort Garry app (iOS and Android) provides a GPS-enabled guide that explains and contextualizes the illustrated stories cut into the steel of the Heritage Wall. Paired with the text in the app are many archival photos, and links to additional resources. Additionally, the Park’s mobile app enables visitors to play sound and video elements directly on the Wall. The Park has been the recipient of many accolades and awards. These include Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, Regional Citation, 2008, Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, Jury’s Award of Excellence, 2018, City of Winnipeg, Access Award Excellence in Universal Design and Accessibility, with HTFC Planning and Design, Grands Prix du Design, Gold Laureate for Integration of Art in Interior Design, 2021, Grands Prix du Design, Silver Laureate for Architectural Lighting, 2021, Grands Prix du Design, Bronze Laureate for Building Façade, 2021. The vision of the Friends of Upper Fort Garry, and their desire for “…a truly unique public space that combines innovation, tradition, history and interpretation…” has added another world-class urban destination to Winnipeg's downtown culture.