Discover This project is part of the Nathan Phillips Square project.

The first project completed at Nathan Phillips Square transforms the three-storey podium at Toronto City Hall into the largest publicly accessible green-roof garden in Canada. It fulfils the original potential of Viljo Revell’s iconic 1965 design by creating a lush metropolitan haven that supports lingering, strolling, gathering, and ceremony and panoramic views of the city. The new green roof consists of three distinct areas: A sweeping carpet of sedum mosaic surrounded by a perimeter walk, a granite paved courtyard that frames the curved council chamber, and the plaza that occupies the prow.

View of the garden from the observation deck

Inspired by Paul Klee’s Polyphony (1932), the garden features a complex mosaic of sedum species inter-planted with grasses, alliums and bulbs that respond to shade and wind conditions created by the surrounding towers. The colours of the plantings progress from bright yellows and oranges in the SW to deep reds and purples in the NE. Although the initial garden layout was designed to appear rigidly geometric, the plants were carefully selected to grow over time into a more Fauvist set of drifts.

Connected to the square by the ceremonial ramp at the south, by stairs at the north and east, this upper level garden is signalled by new trees at the podium level, and lit wooden handrails that lead up from the square.

The Podium Roof Garden opened officially on 29 May 2010 as part of Doors Open Toronto.

Layered seating and planting
Shade benches
Benches with lighting
Nestled in the planting
The long bench at the council chamber courtyard
Shade benches in fall
Shade benches in summer
The perimeter walk · Photo: Gabriel Li
The perimeter walk at night
The central courtyard
The tree planter and council chamber from the prow

  1. A Conversation of Views
  2. Admiral Road Garden
  3. Airdrie Road Garden
  4. Airdrie Road Residence
  5. Albany Avenue Residence
  6. Alcina Garden
  7. Alexandra Park
  8. Aporia Records
  9. Asphalt Poetry
  10. – Poem
  11. Baby Point Gardens
  12. Beach Garden
  13. Beach Village BIA Master Plan
  14. Beaty Residence
  15. Bennington Heights Garden
  16. Berkeley Street Residence
  17. Bin-Scarth Garden
  18. Blink and you miss it.
  19. – Poem
  20. Block 22 Landscape
  21. Bloor St. Apartment
  22. Blue Note
  23. Booth Avenue Residence
  24. Boustrophedon Garden
  25. Braemore Gardens Residence
  26. Browning Avenue Residence
  27. Brunswick Avenue Residence
  28. Camp Arowhon Offices
  29. Canadian Firefighters Memorial
  30. Channelled Buried Moved Lost
  31. Chocolate Loft
  32. City Instrument
  33. Clarendon Garden
  34. Conversation Piece
  35. Cortleigh Boulevard Garden
  36. Creemore Farm
  37. Danforth Mosaic BIA Master Plan
  38. Dickson Park Garden
  39. Dilworth Residence
  40. Don Landing Revitalization
  41. Dublin Grounds of Remembrance
  42. Duncanwoods Townhouses
  43. Dundas Roncesvalles Peace Garden
  44. Dupont-by-the-Castle BIA
  45. East Point Bird Sanctuary
  46. Eglinton Ave Forecourt
  47. Eglinton Park Master Plan
  48. Elizabeth Fry Society
  49. Ellsworth Residence
  50. Face to Face | Tête à Tête
  51. First Avenue Garden
  52. First Avenue Residence
  53. Flyover Canada
  54. Foote’s Pond Wood
  55. Forest Hill Village Streetscape
  56. Gaze, Glimpse, Glance
  57. Global Affairs Monument
  58. Goldring Landscape, University of Toronto
  59. Gormley Garden
  60. Governor's Bridge Lookout
  61. Greener P
  62. Greer Road Garden
  63. Greer Road Residence
  64. Guelph Bridge
  65. Head in the Clouds
  66. Helena Ave Residence 4
  67. Jackman Institute for Childhood Studies
  68. Junction Craft Brewery
  69. Kelpies Competition
  70. Kew Gardens Streetscape
  71. King's Landing Apartment
  72. Kipling & Islington Developments
  73. Lakeport Beach Neighbourhood
  74. Le jardin du repos
  75. Lenticular Curtain
  76. Leslie Slip Lookout Park
  77. Liberty Village Parkettes
  78. Liza’s Garden
  79. Lynwood Garden
  80. Macroscape
  81. Makwa Waakaa'igan
  82. Markham Garden One
  83. Markham Street Residence Two
  84. Massey College Landscape Restoration
  85. Midtown Yonge Streetscape
  86. Mount Dennis Parkettes
  87. Mulock Park
  88. Nathan Phillips Square
  89. – Streetscape
  90. – Peace Garden
  91. – Podium Roof Garden
  92. Noel Garden
  93. Octane Medical Campus
  94. Orchard View Garden
  95. Osgoode Atkinson Green Competition
  96. Owl Cottage
  97. Paperstone Scissors
  98. Pendrith Residence
  99. Peripheral Sitings
  100. Pottery Road Crossing
  101. rare
  102. Ravine Forecourt
  103. Ribbon of the Lower Don
  104. Riverside BIA Master Plan
  105. Roxborough Garden One
  106. Roxborough Garden Two
  107. Schulich School of Business
  108. Sheridan College
  109. – Trafalgar Campus Master Plan
  110. Spadina Quay Wetland
  111. St. Anne's Road Garden
  112. St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
  113. Stratford Market Square Competition
  114. Stratford Patterson Theatre Competition
  115. Superkids Dental
  116. Superlegible
  117. Sweet Farm
  118. Sweet Farm Pond House
  119. Swift Medical Offices
  120. The Meadows Reconsidered
  121. The Red Sash
  122. Thick & Thin
  123. Thistletown II Townhouses
  124. Tipping Point
  125. TMU Centre for Urban Innovation
  126. TMU Science Building
  127. Tranby Garden
  128. Tree House Residence
  129. UBC Okanagan – The Commons
  130. UHN Tunnels
  131. University of Toronto Mississauga Welcome Centre
  132. Venice Biennale 2012
  133. Vermont Square Park
  134. Vernon Avenue Garden
  135. Walk the Walk
  136. Walmer Road Residence
  137. Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial
  138. Wellesley Cottages Garden
  139. Wells Street Residence
  140. Westminster Residence
  141. Weston Village BIA Masterplan
  142. With Words as Their Actions
  143. Woodlawn Avenue Residence
  144. Woven Stories
  145. Wynford Drive Residences
  146. York Park
  147. Yorkwoods Townhouses