Buchanan Square

Location

City Centre 

About Buchanan Square

Located on Burlington Drive next to Coquitlam City Hall, Buchanan Square is a large 0.72 acre public open space consisting of an upper and lower-level outdoor plaza above the City Hall parkade. This plaza is an important public interface between City Hall, the Coquitlam RCMP building, as well as the adjacent Glen Pine Pavilion and Spirit Square.

Improvements to Buchanan Square were completed in spring 2021. The slide and shade structure area were installed in spring 2022. 

Improvements include:

  • Enhanced wayfinding and connectivity
  • New lighting
  • New seating, swing benches and picnic tables
  • New shade structure
  • Table games and slide
  • Plaza space for social connection, recreation and events

Background

The opportunity to improve the public space in Buchanan Square stems from a need to replace the roof of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Public Safety Building’s underground parkade, located beneath the square’s lower level. The roof’s waterproof membrane had exceeded its lifespan and has experienced a number of leaks over the last several years, requiring repairs and making some parking stalls below unusable.

While this important infrastructure work on the parkade membrane was taking place, Buchanan Square in Coquitlam’s City Centre was transformed into a more vibrant and welcoming community space to allow for social connection, recreation and events.

Public Input

Public input on the proposed concepts for Buchanan Square improvements  were collected through a survey and an open house was held in the spring of 2019. In October 2020, Council approved City Staff’s proposal to proceed with the landscape design.