in mind the needs of the athletes, as well as the requirements of VANOC and the IOC, the City was ultimately guided by the long-term needs of the future SEFC community, rather than the priorities of the Games. Petri says: In building the Olympic Village, we always had the future and the long-term goal in mind. We weren’t thinking that we were building something just for two weeks. We were building something that would be here forever. And that’s what helped us keep true to our goals. (Petri, personal communication, February 21, 2012) Importantly, VANOC, despite its far-reaching Olympic planning mandate granted by the IOC, always “treated the City as a partner, never dictating it what to do” (Petri, 2012). The City always had a clear vision of what was important for it in developing this neighborhood. Therefore it wad able to “carry VANOC through to the end on [this vision]” (Petri, personal communication, February 21, 2012). VANOC was just making sure that the Village was going to meet their purposes, i.e. the accommodation of athletes’ needs (Petri, personal communication, February 21, 2012). Furthermore, notwithstanding the Olympic deadlines, the City was committed not only to incorporating cutting-edge green measures in the project, but also to “authentic placemaking” (Hein, personal communication, February 20, 2012). Being in constant conversation with the local community of architects and designers, the City proved to be attentive and responsive to their calls to shift away from the habitual high-rise mixed-use urban shapes of “Vancouverism” and seek new, more human-scaled, dense, low- and midrise forms reflecting the spirit of the place (The Challenge Series, n.d.). As a result, the ODP of the Village reflected the requirement of an authentic neighborhood character, contemporary expression of its unique identity, and respect for natural topography. This new approach to neighborhood development has prompted the City’s willingness to apply the concept of place-based design to other developments in Vancouver after the Olympics (Hein, personal communication, February 21, 2012). The Olympic commitment to technical excellence, innovation and unique design, coupled with the urgency of Olympic deadlines, required an extraordinary level of interagency coordination, close cooperation with the private sector and VANOC, as well as continuous joint problem-solving (The Challenge Series, n.d.). To coordinate the Olympic Village project delivery, the City established a special SEFC OV Project Office, which was responsible for i) the relationships with the private developer of the buildings; ii) the development of the public spaces, including the shoreline, parks, streets, the plaza and community center, and iii) working with VANOC (Petri, 2012). Given its tasks, the OV Project Office was able to ensure communication and collaboration among all those involved in the OV development (Petri, personal communication, February 21, 2012). The Office’s staff included people representing different city departments, which enhanced interdepartamental coordination and group decision-making (Petri, personal communication, February 21, 2012). The Office also brought together experts and planners from different fields, which enabled a highly integrated decision-making, planning and design process (Petri, personal communication, February 21, 2012; Hein, personal communication, February 20, 2012). Finally, the Project Office reported directly to the City Manager, which significantly expedited the decision-making process needed for meeting the Olympic
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