Sustainable Design: Victoria International Marina
Owned by Canadian company Community Marine Concepts, the centrally located Victoria International Marina (VIM) offers world- class, custom-built moorage for yachts from 65 to 175 feet. Situated in the heart of cosmopolitan Victoria, the full-service 28-slip marina sets the standard in upscale security and safety, amenities, concierge services, and crew facilities. The marina caters to clients looking to visit, indulge, provision, upgrade, store or even put their yacht on the market and is driven to create remarkable experiences for its clients.
The VIM is a sanctuary at the gateway to British Columbia’s Pacific Northwest and Inside Passage. It is also becoming a destination for world travellers seeking the immaculate jade waters and dense World Heritage rainforests of the Pacific Northwest coastline. From Victoria to Desolation Sound, the Great Bear Rainforest to Haida Gwaii and Alaska, the VIM has set standards for the best green friendly marina’s in North America by supporting and breeding local marine life.
The marina is committed to preserving the harbour and local environment on land and water, from design to operations. As ambassadors of the Pacific Marine lifestyle, the marina strives to protect the pristine coastline it calls home.
The VIM is engaged in shoreline rehabilitation - partnering with local conservation groups and honouring a Habitat Conservation plan for the region - and is committed to taking responsibility for their impact on climate change with the ultimate goal of being carbon neutral by 2020.
The marina is proud to support the local economy by forging partnerships with the best local businesses in the region while investing in clean technology.
The VIM is a community leader with a collaborative approach to bolstering economic, social and environmental sustainability, inspiring the local community to become ambassadors for the preservation of marine life and hosting community events. Together local students, marine experts and conservation groups are constructing and studying reef ball habitats.
A similar project will have local students raise and release young salmon to provide a much-needed food source for the local orca population.
The VIM spent two million dollars dredging toxic sludge out of the sea-bed and replaced it with gravel. Since then, the floor has transformed into a fish and crab habitat with lush blooms of kelp and coral. The resident otters love the newfound food supply in their midst.
The Marina is also pursuing the highest certification level (5 anchors) of the Georgia Strait Alliance’s Clean Marine certification program.
DESIGN
Victoria-based Western Interior Design Group (WIDG), founded in 1991, was selected to design the marina who worked closely with DHK Architects to fully complement the architectural design of the building. WIDG is a full-service commercial interior design studio with integrated procurement and construction management serving the hospitality, wellness and commercial sectors. Noted clients include Holland America-Princess, Expedia Cruise Ship Centre and Hotel Grand Pacific. CEO and Senior Designer, Ann Squires Ferguson led the project and was thrilled to develop creative solutions in order to fulfill the client’s vision of such a unique and spectacular locale.
Squires Ferguson earned her BA in Interior Design after a career in Electro-Mechanical engineering. In the Navy she specialized in shipboard weapons and audio engineering. As an accredited interior design professional with LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design), she brings a sustainable focus to all her projects. Spearheading many of the company’s largest projects, she regularly manages the design and construction on the client’s behalf. Discovering interior design and construction satisfied Ann’s thirst for the melding of the creative with the technical. Western Interior Design Group immersed itself in the luxury yacht industry for the two and a half year process of design and construction.
Signature design elements of the marina include the triple layer poured Torginol metallic flake flooring throughout the marina lounge. This 200 square meter painting is truly one of a kind with pigments custom blended in situ to replicate the aquatic depths of the harbour when viewed from one of the many float planes overhead.
This stunning guest lounge is a continuation of the surroundings, bringing the outside in. Other highlights include the kiln-cast-glass barn doors, manufactured with glass diverted from local BC waste stream. The fireplace hearth is hewn from a slab of slate quarried on Vancouver Island, just north of Port Renfrew. Signature modern wood furniture throughout, including the custom slab conference table shaped like the hull of a boat, was all crafted locally by Live Edge Design from deadfall in the Cowichan Valley.
Western Interior Design’s mission is to connect, create and construct. Squires Ferguson loves connecting personally with each client, immersing herself in their world and developing a relationship of trust and shared vision. She orchestrates the creative process by blending the clients’ industry-specific knowledge with her team’s experience and technical expertise to shape and build the physical embodiment of their vision.