York Park

PLANT led one of five teams shortlisted in the international design competition for design of York Street Parker Toronto’s waterfront, with Stockholm-based Mandaworks and Virginia-based Phyto Studios as design collaborators.

The site is a prominent gateway to the downtown lakeshore with an infrastructural backstory: until 2016 it was the block where an offramp from the elevated Gardiner Expressway curved down to the ground. After the offramp’s demolition, the concrete bents that had supported the structure temporarily remained in place. We retained them as focal points within a patch of forest and activated them with new functions. Gardiner Green materializes as a green oasis, offering respite from the surrounding high-rises with its rolling, enclosing topography. Accentuating this immersive quality, the planting exaggerates a forest’s layers: lofty canopy, lacy understory, and lush carpet. Within this green enclave, the offramp’s bents have been variously repurposed: swings hang from the tallest, another supports a shade structure, one is part of a water feature, one is a light beacon, and another demarcates a water trough and relief zone for city-dwelling dogs.