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Online Heritage Inventory

Pierrefonds Garden

General Information
Thumbnail photograph of Pierrefonds Garden
Click to see full image
Type of Resource: Landscape
Common Name: Pierrefonds Garden
Address: Minoru Park
Neighbourhood (Planning Area Name): City Centre
Construction Date: 1967-1968
Current Owner: Municipal Government
Designated: Yes

Statement of Significance
Description of Site
The Pierrefonds gardens is a small, rectangular, formal sunken garden located adjacent to Minoru Chapel in the southwestern portion of Minoru Park, accessed by the path system leading through the park from the north and the south. It is an original and important design element in the park.

 Statement of Values
Designated by the City of Richmond in 1979, the historic significance of the Pierrefonds Gardens is derived from its construction as a monument to the twinning of the City of Richmond with Pierrefonds, Quebec. The garden is also associated with the 1967 Canadian Centennial, as it was designed to fit as an adjunct to the Minoru Chapel which was relocated to Minoru Park as a Centennial project.
The formal design of the garden exhibits features of French classical gardens, and follows the original design intent of the landscape architectural firm Desmond Muirhead, the original designers of Minoru Park.

 Character Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the site include:
· The formal design of the garden, which is rectangular and arranged around a pair of cross axes, with a diamond-shaped paved area and a commemorative monument at the centre
· The inclusion of design features of traditional western formal or French classical gardens such as symmetry and axial geometry
· Its location as an extension of the adjacent Minoru Chapel
· The vegetation, which includes clipped shrubbery, an L-shaped rose garden at the outside of each corner and a lawn area with a star-shaped planting bed in each quadrant
· The symbolism of the twinning of the cities of Richmond and Pierrefonds, Quebec.

 History
The Pierrefonds gardens is a small, rectangular, formal sunken garden located adjacent to Minoru Chapel in the southwestern portion of Minoru Park, accessed by the path system leading through the park from the north and the south. It is an original and important design element in the park.

 Architectural Significance
(No information available)

 Landscape Significance
Landscape Element
Garden

 Design Style
Formal

 Designer or Creator
Unknown, possibly City of Richmond Parks Department

 Design Attributes
Pierrefonds Gardens is a rectangular sunken formal garden. Its main axis is taken from the front door of the adjacent Minoru Chapel. Some of its design attributes can be said to be loosely based on formal French gardens of the Renaissance, although a direct connection cannot be made between the design style and the town of Pierrefonds, Quebec.
The garden is square, and arranged around a pair of cross axes, with a triangular paved area and the monument commemorating the twinning with Pierrefonds at the centre. There are four entrances, one on each side, which descend four steps into the garden. The garden is surrounded by clipped shrubbery, and has an L-shaped rose garden at the outside of each corner. Each quadrant has a lawn area with a star-shaped planting bed containing annuals and a spiral coniferous topiary feature. The lawn areas adjacent to the shrub beds are edged with stone; the pathways are concrete unit pavers. A white rose arbour is located over the north entry.
Many of the features of tradition western formal or French classical gardens are present. The garden has symmetry and an axial geometry and is an extension of the adjacent architecture (although not of its style). The division into quadrants echoes the French parterre broderie, the garden is edged with a hedge material, and contains a sculpture as a focal point. This style of garden generally represented the ordering of nature by the human hand. Over the years, the plant material and small design details, such as the star-shaped planting beds, have changed, and structures such as the arbour have been added. Yet, the overall form and spirit of the original design of the garden has remained the same.

 Integrity
Alterations
While the garden as constructed is not exactly as originally designed, it is remarkably similar to the garden shown on drawings of Minoru Park from 1965. These show a rectangular garden divided by pathways into four quadrants, diamond shaped planting beds and bordered on two sides by rows of trees. The present garden is square, with four quadrants and star shaped planting beds in each. There is no tree planting but shrub borders surround the site. The rose gardens at the corners and the rose arbour are additions to the garden. According to the Richmond Parks Department, the garden is a ‘work in progress’, but continues to maintain the major characteristics of its original design.

 Original Location
Yes.

 Condition
Excellent and well-maintained.

 Lost
No

 Documentation
Evaluated By
Denise Cook, BLA, PBD (Public History)

 Date
Tuesday, January 15, 2002

 Documentation
Documents
Mr. Gordon Barstow, City of Richmond Parks Department. Personal communication.
Foreman, Brian. Richmond Minoru Chapel, Undergraduate Thesis, 1985.
Jellicoe, Geoffrey and Susan. The Oxford Companion to Gardens, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1986.
Justice Webb and Vincent Landscape Architects Ltd. fonds. Add. MSS 1194, 621-A-1, File 4, 1961, City of Vancouver Archives.
Leisure Services subject files, Richmond Archives
Newton, Norman T. Design on the Land, Belknap Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, 1971.
Ross, Leslie. Richmond, Child of the Fraser, Richmond ’79 Centennial Society, 1979.
Town Centre research notes, Richmond Museum, no date.
Historical Photographs
Photograph No. 1978 27 18 dated 1977, Richmond Archives.
Location and Type of Plans Found
Plan showing grading and elevations for Cambie Church in Minoru Park, October 5, 1967. Leisure Services subject files, Richmond Archives.
Corporation of the City of Richmond Planning Department. Minoru Community Park, Proposed Plan, 1965. Misc. Planning Department Maps, Item #1987 25 24.

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