Positioned between the proposed Performing Arts Centre and the Brock University School of Fine and Performing Arts is a post-industrial forested slope that was once the site of a raceway channel of the Old Welland Canal. A linear raceway path establishes pedestrian connections to the city from the open space between these two signature buildings. The resulting slopes and staircase-link create a small valley-like amphitheatre space around a plaza between the two buildings. The cantilever branching quality of the proposed oaks and eastern white pine are juxtaposed against the cantilevers of the performing arts centre and existing historical building stock. Planted as a mixed forest across a slope having a 7m elevation drop, the combined canopy will create a high ceiling above this public open space that frames the dramatic facades of the proposed architecture.
