Kalamalka Lake Waterfront Wall: An engineered shoreline retaining wall and terrace build

The Brief

Homes along Kalamalka Lake tend to sit on a steep drop from house pad to water’s edge, and that grade puts real pressure on whatever is holding the bank in place. A property like this typically comes to us because an aging wall is failing, a slope is eroding toward the shoreline, or the owners want a stable, usable terrace between the house and the water instead of an unretained bank. The goal is almost always the same: hold the grade safely for the long term while creating a lake-view space people actually want to stand on.

The Approach

Any structural wall within reach of Kalamalka Lake’s high-water mark falls under foreshore and shoreline regulation, so the design process starts before a single block is set — confirming setbacks, wall height limits, and riparian requirements with the applicable authorities and building the permit application around an engineered plan. Kalamalka’s marl-blue water and provincial protected status make this one of the more tightly regulated shorelines in the Okanagan, and the soil itself is a factor: lakebed clays and seasonal water-table swings mean drainage design behind the wall matters as much as the wall face itself. We engineer for the site’s actual soil-bearing and hydrostatic conditions rather than treating a waterfront wall like a standard backyard retaining wall, because the failure mode — and the consequence of getting it wrong this close to the water — is completely different.

What We Built

The finished wall uses segmental retaining wall block engineered for the required lateral loads, with geogrid reinforcement tied back into the slope and a full drainage blanket and perforated drain tile behind the face to manage hydrostatic pressure before it ever reaches the structure. Terracing breaks the overall grade change into shorter, more stable runs and creates level planted and paved areas that step down toward the water rather than one tall unbroken face. Cap detailing and stone selection were chosen to read as a natural extension of the shoreline rather than a hard engineered edge, so the finished result holds the bank securely while still looking like it belongs on a lake property.

Waterfront and hillside properties around Vernon call for wall design that’s engineered for the site, not just built to spec — see our full approach on Waterfront & Shoreline Retaining Walls (part of our broader Retaining Walls services), or read about what’s involved in foreshore and shoreline permitting before you build near the water. Looking for a landscape team local to your side of the lake? Visit our Vernon location page, or browse more completed work on Our Projects.