Wheaton Walk Through Time

Wheaton Walk Through Time is an outdoor interpretive landscape at the University of British Columbia that transforms a daily pedestrian route into an immersive journey through 4.5 billion years of Earth’s history. 

Connecting the Pacific Museum of the Earth and the Beaty Biodiversity Museum along Main Mall, the project reimagines the campus landscape as a place of learning—where movement through space becomes a way to understand deep time, evolution, and the interconnectedness of life. 

The design is structured around two primary elements: a linear Timeline and a circular Tree of Life. The Timeline compresses Earth’s geological history into a continuous sequence, where distance and progression communicate the scale of time. As visitors move forward, biological events become more frequent and complex, revealing the rapid diversification of life. 

The Tree of Life complements this experience through a circular diagram that represents the relationships between species, reinforcing the idea that all life is interconnected. Together, these elements create a layered and intuitive way to engage with complex scientific concepts. 

Material, colour, and form are used as primary communication tools, translating scientific data into a clear and accessible visual language. The landscape supports multiple levels of engagement—inviting quick encounters, deeper exploration, and repeat visits over time. 

Developed through close collaboration with scientists, educators, and designers, the project integrates interpretation, wayfinding, and public space into a cohesive system. The result is a landscape that extends learning beyond the classroom, making scientific knowledge tangible, accessible, and embedded within everyday experience. 

Wheaton Walk Through Time demonstrates how landscape architecture can function as a medium for communication—transforming public space into an environment for discovery, curiosity, and shared understanding.