PUBLIC EXHIBITION: July 4 to July 17 Ten Design Proposals for Two New Waterfront Parks Unveiled at Toronto City Hall

Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation have unveilled ten creative design proposals as part of the international design competition for York Street Park and Rees Street Park.  Five design proposals will be on display for each park in the Rotunda at Toronto City Hall, so that members of the public will have the opportunity to provide their feedback. The exhibition will be open to the public for during regular hours, beginningWednesday, July 4 at 9:00 a.m. and closing at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17.

A new website for the design competition will allow Torontonians to explore the design proposals and provide their feedback online.  Visit http://yorkreesparkdesign.ca/ to see the proposals on exhibition.  

York Street Park and Rees Street Park will be the two newest additions to the Toronto’s growing collection of beautiful and sustainable public spaces along the city’s main waterfront boulevard, Queens Quay. The design competition challenged international design teams to strike a balance between the needs of local residents, a growing daytime population of office workers and the bustling crowds that visit the waterfront for recreation and leisure.

The design proposals on exhibition have been created by:

York Street Park
• Agency Landscape + Planning (Massachusetts) + DAVID RUBIN Land Collective (Philadelphia)
• Claude Cormier et Associés (Montréal)
• Hapa Collaborative (Vancouver)
• PLANT Architects (Toronto) + Mandaworks (Stolkholm)
• Stephen Stimson Associates Landscape Architects (Massachusetts) + MJMA (Toronto)

Rees Street Park
• PUBLIC CITY Architecture (Toronto)
• SCAPE Landscape Architecture (New York) + BSN Architects (Toronto)
• Snøhetta (New York) + PMA Landscape Architects (Toronto)
• Stoss Landscape Urbanism (Boston) + DTAH (Toronto)
• wHY Architecture (New York) + Brook Mcllroy (Toronto)

Following the public exhibition of the design proposals and the public comment period, the competition jury will be convened in the early fall to recommend a preferred design proposal for each park. The jury consists of leaders in design and art: Jane Hutton, Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo; Janna Levitt, Principal, LGA Architectural Partners; Michael Van Valkenburgh, Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates; Neil Hrushowy, Principal Urban Designer, City and County of San Francisco, and Matthew Hyland, Director/Curator of Oakville Galleries.

Following the jury’s recommendation, Waterfront Toronto will award design contracts to the two winning design teams and begin design development of the parks. Construction of the York Street Park is expected to commence first in 2019, with Rees Street Park following in 2020.