College Park

CivicCommercial/Retail/IndustrialHigh Density Residential and Mixed UseParks/Trails/Open Space

Sep 6

Written By Adelle Ranisavljevic

Location: 444 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario

Client: Canderel Residential and City of Toronto

Project Start Date: 2013

Project End Date: 2018

Project Type:

Civic
Commercial
Low, Medium, High-Rise Residential
High-Density Mixed Use
Parks, Recreation and Open Space
POPS
Streetscapes

Construction Cost: $12,000,000

About the Project

College Park, otherwise known as Barbara Ann Scott Skate Trail, located in the heart of Downtown Toronto is one of the city’s legacy public open spaces. Situated adjacent to the original ‘Eatons College Street’ building, College Park is one of the first great urban parks within the city to be redeveloped – it has become an important addition to the neighbourhood and the Yonge Street BIA. The redevelopment of College Park has contributed to the City’s wider goal of creating a network of iconic and distinctive landscapes in the downtown area. This world class open space has become a well recognized destination which reflects the dynamic and exciting growth of the City.

The MBTW Group was retained by the City of Toronto and Canderel Residential to provide full scope landscape architectural services in the preparation of redevelopment plans for the park. MBTW also lead the public consultation process, which included numerous public engagement and facilitation sessions. Charrettes, visioning exercises, public open houses and information meetings were the tools utilized to guarantee a smooth engagement process with community members and stakeholders.

Among the many new key elements in the re-designed College Park is the re-envisioning of the original ice rink at the centre of the park as a 5-metre wide skating trail. This skate trail has been designed to become a walking loop in the summer so that this facility can be used in all seasons. The skate trail also incorporates state of the art, CO2 technology as its refrigeration system, making it one of the first exterior CO2 rinks in Ontario. In addition to the looping skate trail, a new dynamic, architectural element constructed in wood, glass and stainless steel has been designed as the new fieldhouse/warming station.

Services: