CANOE LANDING COMMUNITY RECREATION CENTRE

Toronto, ON

The Planning Partnership (TPP) worked with PFS Studio and Douglas Coupland on Canoe Landing Park, an 8-acre downtown park, privately funded by Concord Adex Developments as part of its Concord CityPlace development. The park opened to the public in 2009.

The park design and public art elements took inspiration from Canadian icons, such as the iconic Red Canoe sculpture by Douglas Coupland. Construction fill was reused on site, to create a promontory landform for the art piece, making it visible from the adjacent Gardiner Expressway.

The park services a neighbourhood of over 20,000 residents, and catalized the development of two campus buildings to provide community facilities at the Block 31 railway lands, located immediately east of Canoe Landing Park.

TPP collaborated with project lead ZAS architects, on the new facilities, which included a community centre, with an active green roof; two elementary school facilities including an integrated preschool, kindergarten, junior, and senior school. The school yard and daycare facility were designed as flexible open spaces to be used by the school during the day and open to the community after school hours and on the weekend.

For this project, TPP designed urban plazas, community event spaces, and integrated a comprehensive system of natural play opportunities, as well as applied a layer of ecologically based learning opportunities to complement the educational curriculum. This provides opportunites for children to have enriched natural interpretive opportunities, promoting a stronger connection between the students, park users, and their associated natural environment.