Toronto island neighbourhood to feature Canada's "most ambitious" car-free space
Danish landscape studio SLA is among the designers of a neighbourhood on an island in Toronto's Port Lands district, set to advance after receiving the all-clear from planning officials in the city.
The latest piece in Toronto's multipronged waterfront redevelopment, Ookwemin Minising – or "place of the black cherry trees" – covers 98 acres in total, with activated public greenspace and a variety of car-free areas.
SLA and the project's engineering lead GHD are teaming with Ontario-based designers Trophic Design and British architects Allies and Morrison to complete the concept on the formerly industrial site.
The team says its concept, which establishes a pedestrianised identity for the new manmade island at the mouth of the Don River, "reimagines streets as dynamic, living systems that evolve like ecosystems over time".
It also said the design merges "Scandi-style green liveability, quirky density, and long-forgotten indigenous values".
The design shifts between five sitewide strategies (Living Legacy, Local Character, Prioritise Nature, Strategic Density, and Everyday Mobility) and finds its expression through six distinct "character" spaces, according to SLA.
Among them, a 760-meter-long dissecting pedestrian route called Centre Commons anchors the development as "Canada's longest and most ambitious year-round car-free space."
Another, dubbed Sandbar Trail, traces the outline of a prominent isthmus that was historically used for trade and congregation.
The entire development is expected to hold more than 12,000 homes and include climate-safe infrastructure features meant to retain and reuse stormwater and increase protections against flooding and the impacts of urban heat islands.
Through the incorporation of inlaid stonework, native planting strategies, and other interpretive elements, the design intends to reflect a ‘Living Legacy' approach that combines Indigenous storytelling and spatial practices.
"In Ookwemin Minising, we start with life between buildings," said SLA design principal and senior partner Rasmus Astrup.
"'Growing Streets' is about designing urban spaces that evolve over time, that invite people in, and that allow both community and ecology to flourish together," he added.
"This is urban design at its most alive."
Among the key deliverables is a stated 27 per cent increase in density compared to the initial precinct-size framework from the public development agency Waterfront Toronto called Villiers Island, which was first adopted in 2017.
A total of 3,000 affordable units are included, according to the plan.
In terms of its financing, the team says a first phase $975 million CAD investment has been made through a tri-government investment by the City of Toronto, the Government of Canada, and the Province of Ontario.
Occupancy on Ookwemin Minising will ramp up slowly beginning in 2031.
Elsewhere in Toronto, Snøhetta unveiled plans for the new home of the Ontario Science Centre with Hariri Pontarini Architects, which is also working on the country's tallest building.
Away from the Harbourfront, an expansive underground rail line has been completed.
The imagery is by SLA.
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