The Danforth Mosaic Business Improvement Area (“The Danny”) encompasses a remarkable 3-km expanse of east-end Toronto. Like a small town within the big city, it is a place where area residents can find all the goods and services they need, close to home. Passing through five neighbourhoods and two city wards, this BIA is also dauntingly diverse – and until now it has lacked a streetscape master plan.
PLANT’s master plan celebrates The Danny’s heterogeneity while making the area more cohesive and readily explorable. Side-street parkettes, enhanced green spaces, and new gateways pointing the way to the BIA’s four around-the-corner subway stops are unified by domestic-inspired lighting and furniture and ‘rug-like’ paving treatments. These elements all embody the concept of The Danny as the area’s outdoor living room. At the same time, this stretch of Danforth Avenue becomes a variations-on-a-theme art journey, incorporating artist-commissioned murals, subway-demarcating lamps, and bike racks.