Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1385297
Sunset Park, Vancouver, B.C. 6 | J U N E 2 0 2 1 VDZ+A With two decades of dedicated involvement with the community, VDZ+A has fostered a deep network of relationships and trust by NATALIE BRUCKNER | photography by BRETT HITCHINS/courtesy VDZ+A T he year is 1999, and a young landscape architect by the name of Mark van der Zalm is working away in his "new office" (the spare room of his west side apartment in Vancouver), getting ready to rock the world of landscape architecture. After several formative years working for consulting firms, and having left his job as parks designer with the Township of Langley, his family and friends thought he just might be crazy. But van der Zalm, always optimistic and always up for an entrepreneurial chal- lenge, wanted to establish his own landscape architecture design firm. He saw a void in the way some public landscapes were being designed and sought to push for a more inclusive and integrated program for public parks and private development. Van der Zalm could not have foreseen the growth and success in his practise. Nor could he have seen how his then young firm would help transform public and private projects, and make a positive impact on openspace design both in the Lower Mainland of B.C. and many cities across Canada. Today, VDZ+A has two offices in B.C. and a skilled team of more than 30 designers, civil engineers, and urban forestry specialists who deliver creative solutions for both public bodies and private development corporations. VDZ+A has come a long way in just 21 years. "When I started out I knew that I needed to build a portfolio of work in order to build trust among clients and prospective clients. Our initial focus was on proj- ects outside of Vancouver – from The Fraser Valley, Peace River, the Okanagan, to Haida Gwaii – and that really drove the growth of the firm and the complexity of our completed works. We were constantly looking for opportunities in parks and recreation, anything that would be fun to do, anywhere in Canada. This gave us a unique perspective on what it takes to design in all scales of communities and in many different climatic regions of the country," says van der Zalm. He admits that initially he was constantly pushing his comfort limits, but through those challenges – dealing with diverse personalities, diverse user groups, and a diverse climate – came a certain maturity. Through the first decade of practice, the work became more diverse and included a vast array of private development work in B.C., parks planning work around the country, and design projects in many jurisdictions. When talking with van der Zalm and David Jerke, (principal at VDZ+A who joined the firm in 2006), you get the sense that this team not only exudes pas- sion, but is a lot of fun....and that comes across in their projects, too. It's this attitude that has helped the team overcome many obstacles. Take the time they moved from their office on Homer Street in Vancouver to a warehouse RESTORING e Balance