After nearly 2 years of construction, the new West Village Park and District Energy Centre officially opened last week in the rapidly growing West Village neighbourhood of City Centre. Located at the corner of Central Avenue & 133 Street, the new 0.7 Acre park was designed by Vancouver’s Space2Place Landscape Architects in conjunction with a community consultation process, and is one of 10 new parks planned for City Centre. The park includes a plaza, stage, green space, play area, benches, picnic tables, and a distinctive hexagon pattern of concrete, cork, and landscape beds. In addition to the park, a new segment of Central Avenue was opened, with a new sidewalk and dedicated bike lane (now standard on all newly constructed Collector and Arterial Roads in Surrey).
The main feature of the park is the new West Village Energy Centre, designed by Vancouver’s Francl Architecture, and complete with an art installation titled ‘Blankets’ on the building’s stacks. Operated by Surrey City Energy, the centre is the first of 3 District Energy Centres planned for City Centre, with the remaining two to be located near King George Station and Gateway Station in the future. These District Energy centres are intended to provide reliable, cost-competitive, and sustainable heat and hot water services to the City Centre’s growing high-density population. They work by distributing thermal energy, typically in the form of hot water through a network of closed-loop underground pipes to individual customer buildings. As new developments come on-line, they can connect to the District Energy System for their heating and hot water services.
Plaza looking west from 133 St 
Looking East towards West Village Park greenspace 
West Village Energy south facade featuring art installation ‘Blankets’ on building stacks 
Looking East on Central Avenue 
Looking East into interior of West Village Energy Centre 
Newly constructed Central Avenue half-road 
Looking west into interior of West Village Energy Centre 
West Village Energy Centre entrance 
Greenspace and picnic area 
Greenspace, plaza, and seating area 
Greenspace and seating area
Each year, as part of the Surrey’s Capital Construction Program, approximately 300 capital infrastructure projects related to transportation, drainage, sewer, and water improvements are constructed in the city. Of these projects this year, the following are set to be completed in City Centre:
Arterial Paving Upgrade
King George Blvd (University Dr to 108 Ave)
Bike Lanes Upgrade
102 Ave (University Dr to 140 St)
New Collector Road
103A Ave (132 St to 133 St) + 103 Ave (University Dr to City Parkway)
New Signalized Intersection
108 Ave & City Parkway
District Energy Network Expansion
Various Locations
Surrey City Energy is an award-winning City-owned district energy utility that supplies high-density residential, commercial and institutional buildings in City Centre with heat and hot water.
The district energy system produces hot water at centralized facilities and then distributes this hot water by way of a dedicated pipe system to heat buildings throughout various City Centre districts. The system uses low GHG-emission energy sources such as:
- Organic waste (kitchen scraps, etc.) from residential homes throughout Surrey;
- Geoexchange from the ground;
- Solar from the sun;
- Biomass from clean waste wood;
- Waste heat from buildings, industry and waste water.
For more on District Energy:
http://www.surrey.ca/community/3475.aspx
For more on City-wide Capital Construction projects in 2017:
http://www.surrey.ca/files/CapitalConstructionBook.pdf
Street Lighting Upgrade to LED
All roads in City Centre
As part of Surrey’s LED Roadway Lighting Upgrade program which began in 2016, the City Centre will continue to have its street lighting upgraded to a modern LED system in 2017. This new lighting system replaces the current orange coloured ‘high pressure sodium (HPS)’ street lights currently in use both in Surrey, and much of the world, with new white coloured LED lighting that provides superior lighting quality, energy, and cost savings. Surrey will be one of the first cities in Canada to convert its street lighting to LED. The program is to be implemented citywide over the next 5 years.