A Placemaking Journal

In the summer of 2008, PlaceMakers (operating originally as T-Six Urbanists) were engaged by Greenview Developments to conduct a week-long on-site public charrette to design a new neighborhood for the Town of Bruderheim’s northwest quadrant. Bruderheim is a small prairie town located approximately 30kms northeast of Edmonton, Alberta. Bruderheim sits amidst a one-hundred-acre+ industrial area known as “Upgrader Alley” focused on value-added oil processing and related activities. 

 
Due to the proximity of this industry, the surrounding areas are potentially poised for explosive growth at the behest of an increasingly volatile oil market. In this shadow of uncertainty, and with relatively little change since the Town’s incorporation 1908, Bruderheim is uniquely positioned at a crossroads: how will the town grow into the future? Will it follow the outdated suburban development patterns of the last century, or will it strive to truly be an oasis: a place that believes in doing things better by reconnecting to traditional patterns of rural town-making while embracing the best our current state of planning practice has to offer.

Sage is envisioned as a walkable, compact, and complete neighbourhood. While focussed on affordability, the neighbourhood is designed to implement beautiful and functional public spaces, enable a high quality of life through its walkability and diversity of housing types, celebrate the traditional character of the rural townscape, and incorporate comprehensive sustainable development practices. Sage is not envisioned as just a new subdivision within Town limits, but rather as a new, integrated Bruderheim neighbourhood intending to strengthen the Town’s traditional commercial heart and contribute seamlessly with Bruderheim’s pursuit as an oasis in the industrial heartland.  T-Six is currently pursuing adoption of the master plan through a comprehensive Area Structure Plan.