Man with a plan: UBC’s landscape architect

Walking around UBC’s Vancouver campus with Dean Gregory is an eye-opening experience. The university’s Landscape Architect since 2009, Dean has overseen some dramatic – and some subtle – changes to the campus that impact the way students, faculty, staff and residents interact with the university environment every day.

Take Main Mall, for instance. Where the average pedestrian might see it as a useful path through campus, Dean sees it as much more: as part of the iconic image that most people hold of our campus. He constantly takes note of sightlines, the health of the Oak trees, the flow of foot and bike traffic, and the ways in which people are using the space at different times throughout the year. Passing by the Martha Piper plaza, where a group of students are pumping out music and encouraging passersby to join in for #MoveUBC, he smiles, remarking, “This is just so gratifying to see.”

Main Mall wasn’t always so animated. When Dean joined UBC, you could still see large numbers of cars and trucks using it as a road. “It was a place where you saw semis from Coke making their deliveries to wherever,” he recalls. “There was no seating. It was a way to get from point A to point B.” Through 2011 and 2012, the mall’s roads and curbs were removed, the promenades were made flush with the adjacent lawns, and seating was installed. Today, Main Mall hosts countless activities, from impromptu ballgames and classroom activities to organized events such Imagine Day and the annual Welcome Back BBQ for staff. “If it looks like a road, it acts like a road. Now, it doesn’t look like a road, it’s a place,” says Dean.

"If it looks like a road, it acts like a road. Now, it doesn’t look like a road, it’s a place."
Dean Gregory, Municipal Landscape Architect

Being able to shape the campus for the present and future generations is what ultimately drew Dean to his position – a role which also includes providing guidance to the Okanagan campus. Previously, the University of Guelph graduate worked in the private sector in Seattle and Chicago, with little continuity from one project to the next. “When you’re practicing in a conventional landscape architectural office doing a broad array of work, you’re all over the place,” he explains. “The privilege for me of working here is I see what it looks like at different times of the day, in every season throughout the year, and how it develops a patina. I also get to see how the students, staff and faculty use it, and it’s a real pleasure when the campus gets used to enrich student life beyond what we ever hoped or imagined.”

Dean admits that his career is not well understood by the general public. “To this day, I’ll either get called an architect or I’ll get called a landscaper,” he says, with a laugh. “A landscaper is installing and maintaining the landscapes. An architect is designing buildings. I always say to people that I’m responsible for planning, designing and stewarding all the spaces outside of and between the buildings.”

The space between buildings may be an afterthought for many people, but it’s a critical component of the academic and social experience of the university, stresses Dean. “When it comes to wellness, making the campus a pedestrian environment plays a part in that. Somebody doesn’t get to be dropped off in front of the ESB building by their parents; they actually have to do some walking.” He points out the mental and physical health benefits of an inviting campus landscape. “There are things you didn’t see happening before these public realm improvements were made. I walked through library garden yesterday and some guy was doing tai chi. That’s great!”

Dean’s focus isn’t simply on the usability of the campus outdoors; he’s also concerned with drawing out its beauty. Pointing out the white roof of Bean Around the World on Thunderbird Boulevard, visible from anywhere along Main Mall, Dean says the sight has always bothered him – so he has implemented a fix. “I’ve finally been able to get some trees planted out there, so in about 10 years you will just see green at the south end of the mall,” he says. Other small fixes he’s taken on include repositioning the Frank Fairchild Wesbrook memorial bench in front of the Irving K. Barber library so that it faces out, giving it a more impressive backdrop, and providing a better photo-op for graduating students.

As for his next dream project? Dean doesn’t hesitate. “I want a fire pit on campus!” he declares, emphatically. You heard it here first, folks. Watch this space.

"The space between buildings may be an afterthought for many people, but it’s a critical component of the academic and social experience of the university."
Dean Gregory, Municipal Landscape Architect