Wai-Sue Louie is a Senior Project Manager/Park Planner with the Sports, Recreation & Open Spaces team at Binnie. Wai-Sue has been a part of the Binnie team since April 2018! A huge milestone.
As a Senior Project Manager/Park Planner, Wai-Sue’s role at Binnie is to lead park planning and conceptual design projects. She coordinates with the design team of Binnie staff and sub-consultants to review background information, conduct required studies and investigations, analyze the sites, and consult with stakeholders and the public to determine the project’s vision, goals, values, and development priorities. She provides mentorship and support to younger staff members and is also involved in business development, supporting responses to project proposals.
During her time at Binnie, she can recall one of her favorite experiences being:
“The LAB team rode water bikes around Burrard Inlet two years ago stands out for me as one memorable team activity. Field trips to and review of completed design projects are always a highlight and great team building event that gives us a chance to discuss the process, many challenges and success of the project.”
Wai-Sue has been involved with many exciting projects during her time at Binnie, but the Vancouver Track Strategy stands out for her as a most impactful one. Wai-Sue and the project team generated a comprehensive plan to guide the planning and development decisions for the city’s large inventory of track and field facilities for the next TEN YEARS! Interacting and collecting input from a diverse group of stakeholders, interest groups and the public was a most memorable aspect of the project for Wai-Sue.
When asked about the most rewarding aspect of her career over the last 33 years, Wai-Sue says it’s the process of collecting and analyzing data and determining priorities to ultimately translate it into a strategic plan to guide decision-making and/or a physical form in an outdoor space amenity that serves to enhance enjoyment and interaction for the public of all ages.
Her advice for others in similar roles is to “embrace failures as well as successes, as each project will teach you something different and the most challenging projects will teach you the most.”
In her free time, Wai-Sue enjoys baking, crafting, and traveling, with knitting, pottery and European adventures as her current focus. She has a busy home life with a husband, two daughters, and three cats that she adores.