Photos: 3DS

Fort Langley, BC

19th century Fort Langley provided a critical link between First Nations and the Hudson’s Bay Company in early colonial times, and helped to establish a trading network in what was to become the province of British Columbia.

Parks Canada and the Fort, recognizing a growing audience of families with younger kids, was in need of a dedicated and all-weather play space where younger audiences could take part in the same activities as the big kids (and adults) across the rest of the site – remaining focused on the Fort’s foundational themes of trade and transportation.

A toddler zone encourages open-ended fort building, using soft foam components based on the Fort’s historic ‘piece on piece’ timber construction. Small kids can climb in replica First Nations canoes to fish for salmon with scoop nets, pick magnetic cranberries from shoreside bushes, and trade them with older siblings and friends at the Kids’ Fort next door.

Older kids package furs in the scaled-down press, man the fort, and pack salmon and berries in barrels for transport via canoe and bateau to the HBC’s paddlewheeler, SS Beaver, for transshipment around the world.

Concept and Schematic Design, with Lillian Tom Graphic Design.
Detailed Design team lead, with AldrichPears Associates, Lillian Tom Graphic Design, 3DS, and Parks Canada.


pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/bc/langley/activ/activ2