OPPI’s annual Excellence in Planning Awards Program recognizes excellence in all aspects of the planning profession.  Waterfront Toronto’s Lower Don Lands Plan won in the Urban/Community Design category which acknowledges planners’ contributions to the built form within our communities and recognizes planned, newly constructed or renovated sites or areas.

“We are honoured that the Lower Don Lands has been recognized as a model of excellence by the Ontario Professional Planners Institute,” said John Campbell, President and CEO of Waterfront Toronto. “The Lower Don Lands is an incredibly complicated yet integral piece of the waterfront puzzle and one that is essential to get right.”

Located in the flood plain of the Don River, The Lower Don Lands is a 110 hectare (272 acre) brownfield site at the eastern end of Toronto’s harbour. The site is at the junction of two new waterfront communities already under construction, and it is the gateway to the larger Port Lands area and the first stage of the Port Lands that will be developed. Planning for the area had to address a myriad of requirements and challenges including flood protection, infrastructure, urban design, transportation and contaminated soil and groundwater.

Waterfront Toronto’s plan for the Lower Don Lands, created by a team lead by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc., reroutes the mouth of the Don River through the area and creates vibrant mixed-use communities around the new river mouth. The plan enables the development of 13,000 new homes, 3,000,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, plus 53 hectares (130 acres) of parks and public space. The plan also protects more than 230 hectares (568 acres) of land currently at risk due to flooding.

The Lower Don Lands plan has been recognized as an exceptional model of sustainable urban development, and has won numerous local and international awards. The Lower Don Lands project is one of 16 founding projects of The Climate Positive Development Program: a partnership between the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), and the U.S. Green Building Council.

OPPI

OPPI’s Awards Program acknowledges the significant contribution that professional planners make in their communities, and helps to build awareness of the planning profession among related professions, government, the private sector, and the general public.

OPPI is the recognized voice of the Province’s planning profession. Its more than 3,500 members work in government, private practice, universities, and non-profit agencies in the fields of urban and rural development, urban design, environmental planning, transportation, health and social services, heritage conservation, housing, and economic development.

Waterfront Toronto

The Governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

Media Contact:

Tari Stork, Manager, Project Communications, Waterfront Toronto
T: 416-214-1344 x 279 / C: 416-414-1577 / tstork@waterfrontoronto.ca

Loretta Ryan, MCIP, RPP, CAE, Director, Public Affairs, Ontario Professional Planners Institute
C: 416-668-8469 / policy@ontarioplanners.on.ca

East Bayfront: Meet at 11:00 a.m. at Canada’s Sugar Beach for a tour of Canada’s Sugar Beach, Corus Quay, the Water’s Edge Promenade, Sherbourne Common and other exciting new developments along the eastern portion of the waterfront.

Lower Don Lands: Set off from The Historic Distillery District at 2:00 p.m. Walk along the Keating Channel with its industrial heritage and discover how this “brownfield” will one day be transformed into a vibrant new waterfront community and new Don River mouth.

Waterfront Toronto, in conjunction with the City of Toronto and Toronto and Region Conservation, sought Toronto City Council’s authorization to submit all the necessary planning documents to support an Official Plan Amendment for the Lower Don Lands plans. The Official Plan Amendment paves the way for future revitalization of the area including rerouting the river, building flood protection and ultimately building new communities.

Council’s endorsement means the draft Don Mouth Environmental Assessment can be submitted to the Ministry of the Environment for approval under the Environmental Assessment Act, and the Official Plan Amendment and new Zoning By-law can be submitted to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of Natural Resources for consistency with provincial flood management policies.

Following approval by the ministries, the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law will go back to City Council in August for final approval.  If passed in August, Toronto’s Official Plan will be amended to enshrine the Lower Don Lands plans, ensuring future development in the area is in harmony with the principles and standards of the plan.

“Revitalization of the Lower Don Lands is an integral part of overall waterfront revitalization.  The renaturalized Don River will become the centerpiece of a 21st century, mixed-use neighbourhood,” said John Campbell, President and CEO of Waterfront Toronto.  “I’m confident the Lower Don Lands will finally realize its potential and become one of the most sought after spots in the City to live, dine, and relax at the water’s edge.”

Regeneration and development of the Lower Don Lands has until now been hindered by flood risk, isolation, soil and groundwater contamination and inadequate infrastructure.  The plans address and overcome these factors, and will protect more than 230 hectares (568 acres) of land currently at risk due to flooding.  The flood mitigation measures in the plan eliminate a potential half-billion dollar flood risk, while simultaneously unlocking the economic development potential for the lands.  The plans will transform this post-industrial area into a vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood that combines sustainable city building with major river restoration and naturalization.

The plans were developed as a result of an international design competition in 2007 and were taken through a rigorous technical analysis as part of a comprehensive environmental assessment.  Using an integrated design process, the plans skillfully apply ecology to reconnect the city, lake and river, and set the stage for wholesale transformation of the area.  The new Lower Don Lands will be a vibrant, mixed-use sustainable community and a sought-after destination to live, work and play.

The planning process for the Lower Don Lands has included extensive community and stakeholder consultation.  Numerous meetings with the public, non-profit agencies, community groups, private land owners and other stakeholders were held throughout the process.
In addition to being the recipient of several prestigious international awards, the Lower Don Lands project is also one of 18 projects of the Climate Positive Development Program, U.S. President Bill Clinton’s joint Climate Initiative with the U.S. Green Building Council.

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The Governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

For more information:
Lower Don Lands Backgrounder
Lower Don Lands Quick Facts

Media Contact:
Tari Stork, Manager, Project Communications, and Waterfront Toronto 416-214-1344 x 279
tstork@waterfrontoronto.ca

Waterfront Toronto, in conjunction with the City of Toronto and Toronto and Region Conservation, is seeking Toronto City Council’s authorization to submit all the necessary planning documents that would ultimately result in an Official Plan Amendment for the Lower Don Lands plans. The Official Plan Amendment would pave the way for future revitalization of the area including rerouting the river, building flood protection and ultimately building new communities.

At its July 6/7 meeting, Council will be asked to endorse the draft Don Mouth and Lower Don Lands environmental assessments.  If endorsed, the draft Don Mouth Environmental Assessment will then be submitted to the Ministry of the Environment for final approval under the Environmental Assessment Act.

Council will also be asked to endorse an Official Plan Amendment and new Zoning By-law, which require review by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of Natural Resources for consistency with flood management policies.  If passed by Council in August, Toronto’s Official Plan will be amended to enshrine the Lower Don Lands plans and will bring the project to a point of readiness where funding and economic development opportunities can be seized.

The plans were already unanimously endorsed by Toronto City Council’s Executive Committee on June 14 and by Toronto and East York Community Council on June 22.

“This is a pivotal moment for the future of the Lower Don Lands and is the culmination of years of planning,

design and public consultation,”said John Campbell, President and CEO, Waterfront Toronto.“The plans for the Lower Don Lands represent a unique opportunity to remake a significant and vital part of Toronto’s waterfront.”

Until now, regeneration and development of the Lower Don Lands has been hindered by a number of factors including flood risk, isolation from the rest of the city, soil and groundwater contamination and insufficient infrastructure.  The Lower Don Lands plans address and overcome all of these factors, and will transform this post-industrial area into a sought-after destination to live, work and play based on design excellence, ecology and economic sustainability.

Following an international design competition in 2007, the plans were developed by a team led by world renowned landscape architectural firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc (MVVA). The plans were taken through a rigorous technical analysis as part of a comprehensive environmental assessment.  The process looked at several options and ultimately led to the development of the preferred alternative.  The MVVA led team used an integrated design approach – the collaboration of landscape architects, urban designers and leading sustainability experts –which brought together infrastructure, public realm, and ecology to connect the city, lake and river in a dynamic and balanced relationship at the mouth of the Don River.

The plans renaturalize the mouth of the Don River by rerouting it through the Lower Don Lands and at the same time protect more than 230 hectares (568 acres) of land currently at risk due to flooding. The flood mitigation measures eliminate a potential billion dollar-plus flood risk, while simultaneously unlocking the economic development potential for the lands.

The strategies embedded in this approach expand development opportunities for building at the edge of a naturalized river park setting. Under the plans the water’s edge will almost double and 49 hectares (120 acres) will be allocated to parks and open spaces. Comprehensive economic impact assessments project that the plans will result in:
•    $480 million in incremental increases in land value in the Lower Don Lands, before build-out;
•    $300 million in increased land value in surrounding neighbourhoods;
•    $55 million in new annual tax revenue in the Lower Don Lands; and
•    $6.8 billion in private investment leveraged in the Lower Don Lands.

“In addition to the economic and environmental benefits to the City, the plans create a unique opportunity for Toronto to showcase its leadership in progressive and sustainable city building,” said Campbell. “Reconnecting Toronto and the Don River at the edge of Lake Ontario will transform Toronto’s waterfront into an internationally recognized destination that combines sustainable city building with major river restoration and naturalization.”

Waterfront Toronto’s plans for the Lower Don Lands have received several prestigious international awards including accolades from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the American Institute of Architects, and the Building Exchange (BEX) Conference.

The Lower Don Lands project is also one of 18 founding projects of the Climate Positive Development Program. A project of U.S. President Bill Clinton’s Climate Initiative and the U.S. Green Building Council, the program’s aim is to demonstrate sustainable urban growth models and support large urban developments in achieving zero carbon emissions.

The Lower Don Lands has been designed to achieve climate-positive goals using passive design, optimizing climatic effects from sun and wind, and prioritizing transit and multi-modal transportation options. Energy planning raises the bar for energy efficiency, deemphasizing reliance on the grid. The design also includes strategies for water re-use and leading edge information technology to support sustainable living and working.

The planning process for the Lower Don Lands has included extensive community and stakeholder consultation.  Numerous meetings with the public, non-profit agencies, community groups, private land owners and other stakeholders were held throughout the process.

The Governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

For more information:
Lower Don Lands Backgrounder
Lower Don Lands Quick Facts

Media Contact:
Tari Stork, Manager, Project Communications, and Waterfront Toronto 416-214-1344 x 279
tstork@waterfrontoronto.ca

The Keating Channel Precinct, the Lower Don Lands’ first planned community, was recognized in Hamburg Germany at the Building Exchange (BEX) Conference.

The fifth annual BEX International Awards, held in partnership with the World Green Building Council, promote global standards for environmentally sound buildings, large-scale developments and infrastructure. Judged by a panel of leading experts, the awards celebrate sustainability, innovation, efficiency and collaboration in the built environment and demonstrate consideration of the issues surrounding climate change, sustainable communities and future legacies.
Previous winners include WS Atkins (Bahrain World Trade Centre), Birmingham City Council (Big City Plan) and Aldar Properties (Aldar HQ).

“This award emphasizes the importance of investing in sustainable communities to help reduce carbon emissions, prioritize transit as a mode of transportation, and improve energy efficiency,” said John Campbell, President and CEO of Waterfront Toronto. “It is an honour for Waterfront Toronto to be recognized for its commitment to world class sustainable city building.”

The first community to be developed in the Lower Don Lands, the Keating Channel neighbourhood is the area that runs from East Bayfront to the Don River and from the West Don Lands to Villers Street. The community is designed to optimize the climatic effects from sun and wind and to incorporate strategies for water re-use and leading edge information technology to support sustainable living and working.
Waterfront Toronto is planning to transform the Lower Don Lands, a 125-hectare (308-acres) industrial area located south of the rail corridor in the east end of Toronto’s harbour, into new parks and communities. Plans for the area include re-naturalizing the Don River mouth, re-routing it to provide flood protection for the area, and the creation of wetland and natural green spaces. The river will be the centerpiece of new mixed-use sustainable communities.

The Lower Don Lands was recently named as one of 16 founding global projects of the newly launched Climate + Development Program, a partnership between the Clinton Climate Initiative and the US Green Building Council.
The Program will support the planning and implementation process for each real estate development and establish the standards and metrics by which the sites can measure climate positive outcomes. Along with the other projects, the Lower Don Lands will seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to below zero by implementing economically viable innovations in the generation of clean energy.

For a video outlining new development plans for Waterfront Toronto’s Lower Don Lands log on to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEQiNXXgu4g.

The Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

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Media Contact:
Sheri DeCarlo, Waterfront Toronto, (416) 214-1344 x 279 or sdecarlo@waterfrontoronto.ca

Media Kit

News Release (pdf)

May 19, 2009 – (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) – Waterfront Toronto’s Lower Don Lands development was announced today as one among 16 founding projects of the Climate Positive Development Program, a Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) program that will support the development of large-scale urban projects that demonstrate cities can grow in ways that are “climate positive.” Climate Positive real estate developments will strive to reduce the amount of on-site CO2 emissions to below zero.

The Climate Positive Development Program was launched by President Clinton, Founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation, on May 19, 2009, at the C40 Summit in Seoul, South Korea. Along with the other founding projects, Waterfront Toronto – Lower Don Lands will demonstrate Climate Positive strategies, setting a compelling environmental and economic example for cities to follow.

To reduce the net greenhouse gas emissions of their Climate Positive Development projects to below zero, property developers and local governments will agree to work in partnership on specific areas of activity. This includes implementing economically viable innovations in buildings, the generation of clean energy, waste management, water management, and transportation and outdoor lighting systems.

Last year, for the first time, half the world’s population (3.2 billion people) lived in cities, and that figure is expected to grow to 70 percent by 2050. Cities also occupy just 2 percent of the world’s landmass, yet are responsible for more than two-thirds of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. How cities change and grow is therefore a critical component to tackling the climate crisis.

C40 Chair David Miller, Toronto Mayor and Waterfront Toronto board member, said, “We’re proud to support the participation of the Lower Don Lands in the Climate Positive Development Program. This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase Toronto’s experience in livable, sustainable and diverse neighbourhoods, and help create a network of leading edge ‘climate-positive’ communities around the world.”

“Waterfront Toronto is thrilled to be part of the Clinton Climate Initiative that will advance the innovation and profile of important sustainable city building projects like the Lower Don Lands,” said John Campbell, President of Waterfront Toronto. “The Lower Don Lands project proposes an approach to an urbanized river that few cities have taken before. We are working to re-locate the mouth of a river, restore the river to a condition that nature would applaud, create new parks along its edges and build the most carbon neutral new urban neighbourhoods possible.”

The Lower Don Lands is a 125-hectare (308 acres) brownfield waterfront site east of downtown Toronto. Waterfront Toronto is transforming the area through innovative and sustainable city building models. Plans include re-naturalizing the Don River mouth, re-routing it to address flood protection, and the creation of wetland and natural green space creation in an urban estuary. The river will be the centerpiece of a new mixed-use sustainable community.

The design will achieve climate-positive goals using passive design, optimizing climatic effects from sun and wind, and prioritizing transit and multi-mode transportation options. Energy planning raises the bar for building energy efficiency and in deemphasizing the reliance on the grid. The design also includes strategies for water re-use and leading edge information technology to support sustainable living and working.

The project is globally unique in size, scope, and complexity. The integrated design approach with landscape architects, urban designers and leading sustainability experts brings together infrastructure, public realm, and scientific approaches to connect the city, lake and river in a dynamic and balanced relationship.

By combining CCI’s business and finance expertise with the technical knowledge of the USGBC, the Climate Positive Development program will support the planning and implementation process for each real estate development and establish the standards and metrics by which the sites can measure climate positive outcomes.

When the initial 16 projects are completed, nearly one million people will live and work in Climate Positive communities. These communities will be located in Melbourne, Australia; Palhoca, Brazil; Toronto, Canada; Victoria, Canada; Ahmedabad, India; Jaipur, India; outside Panama City, Panama; Pretoria, South Africa; Johannesburg, South Africa; Seoul, South Korea; Stockholm, Sweden; London, UK; San Francisco, USA and Destiny Florida, USA.

For media enquiries contact:

Sheri DeCarlo, Waterfront Toronto, (416) 214-1344 x 279
Don Wanagas, Director of Communications, Office of Toronto Mayor David Miller, (416) 338-7134

About the Clinton Climate Initiative

The William J. Clinton Foundation launched the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) to create and advance solutions to the core issues driving climate change. Working with governments and businesses around the world to tailor local solutions that are economically and environmentally sustainable, CCI focuses on three strategic program areas: increasing energy efficiency in cities, catalyzing the large-scale supply of clean energy, and working to measure and value the carbon absorbed by forests. In each of these programs, CCI uses a holistic approach to address the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions and the people, policies, and practices that impact them. CCI serves as the action arm of the C40, an association of large cities around the world that have pledged to accelerate their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To learn more about the work of the Clinton Climate Initiative and the William J. Clinton Foundation, please visit www.clintonfoundation.org.

As part of waterfront revitalization, Waterfront Toronto has taken bold and innovative approachs to naturalize the mouth of the Don River and to transform the Lower Don Lands, a critical link between the new waterfront communities emerging in East Bayfront, the West Don Lands and the Port Lands.

The plans would see the mouth of the Don River moved from its current location at the Keating Channel near the Don Roadway to Lake Ontario on the eastern side of Toronto’s inner harbour. The river would be re-routed through the middle of the Lower Don Lands between the Shipping Channel and the Keating Channel. This will result in the Don River once again becoming a major feature of Toronto’s waterfront and the centerpiece of new mixed-use neighbourhoods and parks and green spaces in the Portlands.

Waterfront Toronto’s plans were developed through a comprehensive Environmental Assessment (EA) process which has included the examination of several alternative planning solutions. The plans are rooted in planning designs developed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) as part of the international design competition for the Lower Don Lands held by Waterfront Toronto in 2007.

“What excites me about the plans for the Lower Don Lands is that it provides a new type of neighbourhood for Toronto, says Waterfront Toronto President and CEO John Campbell. “The plans are models for new sustainable communities. They will create a new destination for Toronto where the city, lake and the river interact in a dynamic and balanced relationship – an urban estuary.”

“How often does a city re-locate the mouth of a river, restore the river to a condition that nature would applaud, create a new park along its edges and build the most carbon neutral new urban neighbourhood possible?” says Michael Van Valkenburgh, Principal of MVVA and the consultant team lead for the project. “The Lower Don Lands project proposes an approach to an urbanized river which no city has taken before.”

Creating sustainable communities is a fundamental objective for Waterfront Toronto. To ensure that its plans for the Lower Don Lands were based on innovative and multifaceted approachs to sustainability, Waterfront Toronto created an integrated design process that utilized the expertise of landscape architects, urban designers, hydrologists, ecologists, climate engineers, environmental specialists, sustainability specialists, and economic advisors.

The Lower Don Lands plans take a holistic approach through the introduction of urban development, native ecologies, and public infrastructure in the transformation of the area into vibrant, mixed-use communities lined by generous promenades and traversed by a series of bridges for vehicles, transit, cyclists, and pedestrians.

As part of Waterfront Toronto’s broader sustainability goals, the Lower Don Lands plans prioritize transit as a mode of transportation creating dedicated space for high frequency light rail transit. In addition, extensive multiuse trails in the area will act as major connecting links with the Don Valley Trail system, the Don Greenway, and the Martin Goodman Trail, maintaining continuity and enhancing the public realm.

Sun and wind movement studies have been used to shape the orientation of buildings and street blocks in the plans for the Lower Don Lands. This will not only further the development of an energy efficient indoor building climate but will also provide for a more comfortable experience in the public realm by maximizing the natural cooling effects of summer breezes and shade while offering protection from winter winds.

“By working with and understanding climate, a more comfortable and sustainable city can be created at less cost to the environment,” says Campbell.

The plans for the Lower Don Lands envision a mix of 75 percent residential and 25 percent non-residential space.

The first community to be developed in the Lower Don Lands will be the Keating Channel neighbourhood, the area that runs from East Bayfront to the Don River and from the West Don Lands to Villers Street. The precinct plan for the area consists of 25 blocks that will feature a variety of built-forms and architecture that support a diversity of experience and use.

The public will have an opportunity to review the plans, ask questions of the design team and provide input at a public meeting on Saturday May 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Lawrence Hall, 157 King Street East.

At the meeting Waterfront Toronto will present detailed plans for the Lower Don Lands and a draft precinct plan for the Keating Channel neighbourhood. Toronto and Region and Conservation, the agency assisting Waterfront Toronto with the EA for the new mouth of the Don River, will present the new river alignment and innovative flood protection strategies for the Don River.

“We are pleased to partner with Waterfront Toronto, their design team led by Michael Van Valkenburg Associates, our EA consultant team led by AECOM, and the City of Toronto in developing this concept design for the naturalized mouth of the Don,” said Brian Denney, Chief Administrative Officer, Toronto and Region Conservation. “This project integrates our key goals of naturalizing the mouth of the Don while removing the risk of flooding to the most vulnerable area in our jurisdiction.”

The original design for the Lower Don Lands upon which current plans are based has already received recognition from the international design community. Waterfront Toronto together with MVVA received the 2008 Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s Sustainable Development Award for the concept design of the Lower Don Lands. The project has also won the American Society of Landscape Architects 2008 Honor Award in Analysis and Planning.

The Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

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Media Contact: Sheri DeCarlo, Waterfront Toronto 416-214-1344 x 279 sdecarlo@waterfrontoronto.ca

Video Tour of Lower Don Lands

Media Kit

News Release (pdf)
Lower Don Lands Facts (pdf)
Lower Don Lands Planning Process Backgrounder (pdf)
Cherry St Crossing South View (jpg)
Image – Keating Precinct View East (jpg)
Image – Keating Channel Edge Park (jpg)
Image – Ship Channel – Don Greenway South View (jpg)
Image – Lower Don Lands Overview (jpg)
Image – Lower Don Lands Aerial (jpg)
Image – Don Valley Bike Trail South View (jpg)
Image – Trinity Street Bridge (jpg)

The Sustainable Development Award, one of RAIC’s National Urban Design awards, recognizes the role urban design and architectural excellence play in maintaining and enhancing the quality of life in Canadian cities. In their final analysis the National Urban Design jury members felt that the Lower Don Lands design crafted an ecologically-based and environmentally sensitive approach that will provide a long-term evolutive strategy for sustainable development.

The Lower Don Lands project is just one part of Waterfront Toronto’s 800 Hectare project to transform the City of Toronto’s central waterfront. The design for the Lower Don Lands promises to turn unused land in Toronto’s central waterfront into a sustainable “green” city, a new destination where city, lake, and river interact in a dynamic and balanced relationship.

“Waterfront Toronto is driven by an integrated approach to transforming the central waterfront land” said John Campbell President & CEO, Waterfront Toronto. Waterfront Toronto’s approach goes beyond getting the highest value for each parcel of land. Waterfront Toronto is a champion of transformation based on sustainability, innovation, intelligent communities, design excellence, and the need for this integration to take place before the design phase. “RAIC’s recognition of Waterfront Toronto with the Sustainable Development award shows that Waterfront Toronto’s commitment to design excellence is not just an aspiration but a realization in the Lower Don Lands design” Campbell added.

It is a unique distinction for a master planner like Waterfront Toronto to be recognized by RAIC. RAIC’s recognition of Waterfront Toronto in addition to the MVVA design team signifies the role of integration in the design phase to achieve design excellence and sustainability.

WATERFRONT TORONTO
The Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

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Media Contact:

Michelle Noble, Waterfront Toronto 416-214-1344

News Release (pdf)

The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation today announced that a team led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. (MVVA) beat out three other internationally recognized competitors to win the Lower Don Lands Design Competition.

“The winning MVVA design represents a bold innovative approach to naturalizing the mouth of the Don River and transforming a long neglected area into sustainable new parks and communities,” said Mark Wilson, TWRC chair. “With this design, the Lower Don Lands stands to become one of the most remarkable places on Toronto’s revitalized waterfront.”

TWRC appointed a jury to select the winning design. The jury felt the MVVA design’s big, bold moves impressively integrated the natural and wild elements of the river’s mouth and the Lower Don Lands with urban placemaking, creating a spectacular and compelling vision for the area.

In taking this approach, the MVVA team best addressed the competition’s two key objectives of providing a naturalized mouth and iconic identity for the Don River and creating a comprehensive plan for addressing urban design, transportation, naturalization, sustainability and other ecological issues. Importantly, the team’s detailed understanding of soil conditions and remediation, engineering requirements and landownership issues helped produce a plan that is cost effective and achievable.

“Great cities and great waterfronts go hand in hand” said the Honourable John Baird, Minister of the Environment and federal minister responsible for the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Initiative. “We have the great city. Now we have the design for the Lower Don Lands.”

The other members of the MVVA team are Greenberg Consultants, Inc., Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg, Behnisch Architects, Limno-Tech, Inc., Applied Ecological Services, Great Eastern Ecology, Transsolar, RFR Engineering, Arup, and Totten Sims Hubickiand Associates.

The Lower Don Lands cover the area that runs from Parliament Street east to the Don Roadway and from the rail corridor south to Commissioners Street, including the Don Greenway. The area is a critical link between the new waterfront communities that are emerging in the East Bayfront, the West Don Lands and the Port Lands.

Under the winning MVVA scheme, the Lower Don Lands will be transformed into a sustainable “green” city, a new destination where city, lake, and river interact in a dynamic and balanced relationship – an urban estuary. The mouth of the Don River is the centerpiece of the MVVA design. By moving the river’s mouth from the Keating Channel to Lake Ontario, the scheme reasserts the rivers presence in the city and makes the river an iconic identity for the Lower Don Lands.

“The MVVA outstanding winning design captures the underlying objectives of the waterfront revitalization vision so enthusiastically supported by the McGuinty government: to reclaim the water’s edge in the Lower Don Lands area for the people of Toronto and the Province of Ontario as a magnificent public asset,” said David Caplan, Ontario Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal. “This design helps meet the province’s goal of reconnecting Toronto with its waterfront, by developing sustainable, transit-friendly neighbourhoods that exist in harmony with their natural surroundings.”
Although the river’s mouth is relocated, the Keating Channel itself remains in tact and will be an important link between the neighbourhoods to the north and south. Envisioned as retail-oriented promenade, the Keating Channel will become an animated destination for city residents and visitors.

“The design competition has been most helpful in coming up with a new vision of the mouth of the Don River,” said Mayor David Miller. “It’s now much more integrated with the neighbourhoods that surround it and provides plenty of green space for recreation and the enjoyment of nature. I want to congratulate TWRC for assembling four talented design teams who have shown Torontonians that it’s possible to transform this long neglected area into a thriving, productive part of the city landscape.”

In addition to the generous parks, improved access to the river and lake, and a network of trail connections, the MVVA design provides for new waterfront neighbourhoods that will have strong connections to existing and emerging communities in the East Bayfront and the West Don Lands.

The MVVA design will now inform the naturalization of the mouth of the Don River, flood protection for the Port Lands, precinct planning for the areas between Parliament Street and Cherry Street and in the north end of the Port Lands, and extending Queens Quay from Parliament Street to Cherry Street. The mouth of the Don Naturalization is in progress. Precinct planning and an Environmental Assessment to realign Queens Quay will be underway by the summer.

Members of the jury that selected the winning design were architects Bruce Kuwabara, who chaired the jury, Renee Daoust and Charles Waldheim, photographer Edward Burtynsky and Morden Yolles a structural engineer.

The federal, provincial and city governments established TWRC to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s central waterfront. TWRC currently has a number of major waterfront parks projects underway and development is about start on the West Don Lands, the first new waterfront community.

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Media contact:

Kristin Jenkins, TWRC, tel. 416-214-1479 or kjenkins@towaterfront.ca
Tanya Bevington, TWRC, tel. 416-214-9042 ext. 239 or tbevington@towaterfront.ca

News Release (pdf)

TWRC launched the design competition in February to produce an overall vision for the area that runs from the Parliament Street Slip east to the Don Roadway and from the rail corridor south to Commissioners Street, including the Don Greenway, in the Port Lands.

The competing teams are:

• Stoss, Boston, Brown + Storey Architects, Toronto, Zas Architects, Toronto
• Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, New York, Behnisch Architects, Los Angeles, Greenberg Consultants, Toronto
• Weiss/Manfredi, New York, du Toit Allsopp Hillier, Toronto
• Atelier Girot, Zurich, Office of Landscape Morphology, Paris ReK Productions, Toronto

“We are very impressed and excited by the quality of the submissions,” said John Campbell, TWRC’s President and CEO. “The Lower Don Lands Design Competition has clearly generated a number of new possibilities for this unique and special part of the waterfront.”

The Lower Don Lands area provides a critical connection between the three emerging waterfront communities in the East Bayfront, West Don Lands and the Port Lands.

There are a number of infrastructure, urban design and transportation initiatives in this area required for waterfront revitalization – the naturalization of the mouth of the Don River, flood protection for the Port Lands, precinct planning for the area between Parliament Street and Cherry Street and extending Queens Quay Boulevard from Parliament Street to Cherry Street.

Until now, there has not been a comprehensive process to produce an overall vision for integrating these various waterfront revitalization projects and addressing the complicated infrastructure challenges this area presents.

The design competition will produce a bold and compelling concept for the Lower Don Lands with the river as a central feature incorporating new development and new linkages to the rest of the city.

The objectives of the design competition include:

• Promoting sustainable development
• Naturalizing the mouth of the Don River
• Creating a continuous riverfront park system
• Enhancing the Martin Goodman Trail
• Providing for harmonious new development
• Making transit a priority
• Developing a gateway into the Port lands

The jury selecting the winning design will seek public input at a public forum on Monday, April 16, 2007 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. (presentation begins at 7:00 p.m.) at the Allen Lambert Galleria in BCE Place, the four teams will present their designs to TWRC, stakeholders and Torontonians. The winning team will be announced in early-May.

TWRC was created by the federal and provincial governments and the City of Toronto to lead the $17 billion renewal of Toronto’s Central Waterfront. The development of the first new waterfront community, West Don Lands, is scheduled to start in 2007.

For more information on the Lower Don Lands Design Competition www.towaterfront.ca

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Media contact:

Kristin Jenkins, TWRC, tel. 416-214-1479 or kjenkins@towaterfront.ca
Tanya Bevington, TWRC, tel. 416-214-9042 ext. 239 email: tbevington@towaterfront.ca

News Release (pdf)