Fort York Neighbourhood Public Realm Plan

Address: 1001 Queen Street West
Architect/Landscape Architect/Designers: Urban Strategies Inc., Community Care Consortium: Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects, Montgomery Sisam Architects, and Kearns Mancini Architects Inc.
Client: Centre For Addiction and Mental Health

Project Description

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is redeveloping its site at 1001 Queen Street West as a hub for its programs and services. The site has been home to a mental health facility since 1850. Its redevelopment will contribute to ongoing revitalization in the surrounding neighbourhood and address decades of stigma around mental health and addictions, particularly given the site's former identity as "999 Queen".

The Master Plan extends local streets into the site to create a series of urban blocks containing parks, open spaces and buildings. CAMH uses will be integrated with other uses to create a place where the stigma of the institution will disappear into the rhythm of normal daily activities associated with city living. This will create a new neighbourhood out of an isolated institutional campus, making the site an integral part of an established community.

Three sites for public open space are identified: Shaw Park, Adelaide Common East, and Fennings Park. Private open spaces throughout the site will protect significant stands of mature trees, and courtyards and outdoor terraces will provide secure and private spaces for healing in addition to the more public spaces. Buildings will reflect a range of urban styles, with the lowest heights adjacent to neighbouring houses, a "main street" scale along Queen Street, and taller buildings within the centre of the site. Some buildings will be stepped back to ensure compatibility with the surroundings. Active uses at the grade level of buildings will animate key streets and open spaces.

Jurors' Comments

The winning entry in an important design competition for the revision of this landmark Toronto location, this thoughtful scheme provides for the transformation of the existing campus of medical facilities into a vivid mixed-use, mid-rise development. Long isolated from the surrounding street grid, the 27-acre site will be penetrated by streets that have traditionally dead-ended at its walls. The scale of proposed buildings matches the scale of existing ones along Queen Street West, and the project promises to enhance the well-advanced revitalization of the area.