West Don Lands Precinct Plan

Address: Parliament St./Don River/King Street/Eastern Ave.
Urban Design Project Lead: Urban Design Associates and Joe Lobko Architect Inc. Landscape Architect: Du Toit, Allsopp, Hillier
Planning: GHK International Ltd.
Transportation Planning: LEA Consulting
Municipal Services Engineering: Earth Tech Canada Client: Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation

Project Description

The plan proposes five distinctly different neighbourhoods, all connected by the network of public open space and streets that organize the plan. Each of these builds on the unique character of nearby adjacent neighbourhoods. They range in scale from an extension of Downtown high rise buildings in the Front Street Neighbourhood, to an extension of the loft apartments of the Distillery District, to grand mid-rise apartments along the riverfront park and the linear park that extend into the neighbourhood, to a collection of small scale streets lined with townhouses, similar to the adjacent Corktown and Cabbage Town neighbourhoods. The few remaining historic industrial and commercial structures will be preserved and integrated into the new development to provide continuity.

The plan creates a major 17-acre public park along its eastern edge, which provides flood protection for the precinct and a much needed recreation facility for nearby neighbourhoods.

Jurors' Comments

The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation's master plan for the 80-acre West Don Lands Precinct climaxes an exemplary process that combined practical design work, sophisticated urban thinking and public consultation. The excellent scheme draws the outline of a new downtown community of homes and workplaces, streets and schools and community centres, all stitched firmly into the existing urban fabric by means of new roadways and public transit services, and creating a vibrant architectural focus for the waterfront city of the future.