The Bowen Island lodge was a ground-breaking Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) project established in 1963 and offered a unique opportunity for blind and low vision individuals to experience a holiday in an incredible natural environment specially adapted to their needs. The lodge was built to offer a perfect blend of summer holidays and therapy for its visitors. The opening of the lodge resulted in the creation of the only recreational and training centre for the blind open all year in Canada.
Universal design principles (tactile signage, guardrails, level pathways, sound cues) were used at Bowen Island Lodge long before mainstream adoption. The lodge could be seen at the time as a living case study in inclusive architecture and landscape planning with a focus was on inclusive recreational design.
Capt. M. C. Robinson, western director of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, who has guided the project since 1958, stated: "A blind person who has seen something only through another's description, remembers it longer and in far greater detail than someone who has actually seen it".
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Indeed, the visitors’ experiences of Bowen was not hindered by their visual impairment; their other senses contributing to immerse them in their natural surroundings. There are other ways in which blind people see. They got a good idea of the size of the 49-foot totem pole outside the lodge when they felt its broad, carved base. They heard the screech of seagulls diving for fish near the shore, and the roar of a power-boat as it pulls water skiers through the waves. They smelled the iodine in seaweed, clams at the water's edge and the fragrant shrubs in the woods. But they enjoyed, too, the descriptions of sighted friends and relatives who accompanied them to the lodge.
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