Project Information
Toronto
Master Plan
Urban Plan
Design
Esplanade
Winter
Market
Hotel
Process
Collage
Plan Sketch
Mass Model
Section
Sketch
Concept Sketch
B-Port

Date: Fall 2011
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Duration: 4 Months

The Lower Donlands on Toronto’s Waterfront are currently planned to be developed into several different neighborhoods. In accordance with Waterfront Toronto’s strict sustainability and design regulations, the project proposes to turn a former warehouse site into a sustainable residential neighborhood. Completed as part of a team of 3, the project incorporates aspects of urban planning, landscape architecture, and architecture. All members of the team (2 architects and one landscape architect) collaborated on the neighborhood design and plan, while working individually on certain portions within the neighborhood.

The main challenges for this project stemmed from the site location and context. Much of the Donlands area has already been planned by Waterfront Toronto and Michael van Valkenburgh Associates, requiring any neighborhood plan to adapt to the proposed designs. To the east of the project lies a 100-year flood zone, proposed as relief drainage to Keating Channel. West of the site is the Toronto branch of Pinewood Studios, a well-known film studio and the source of much pride within the city. Finally, the southern edge of the site borders a major shipping channel. The design of the neighborhood adapts to many of these conditions and, in some cases, engages them directly.