Temporary landscape intervention constructed to allow the public to experience the benefits of the competition winning new proposal for the Toronto Central Waterfront.

In June of 2006, West 8 + DTAH won the prestigious Toronto Central Waterfront Design Competition, held by WATERFRONToronto.

With a desire for early action TWRC gave West 8 +DTAH the mandate to explore the potential of the design proposition for Queens Quay Boulevard in an interim project during the summer of 2006. This temporary landscape intervention was constructed to allow the public to experience the benefits of the new proposal – a prelude to the first-phase implementation of the masterplan to follow. The 10-day event also offered a chance for the design team to test practical aspects of the closure of the south side of the street and explore the feasibility of the street reconfiguration. For 10 days, traffic was replaced with bicycle lanes and a kilometer-long stretch of 12,000 red geraniums and a picnic lawn the length of almost ten football fields. A four-storey sculptural arch built with over 600 bicycles highlighted the temporary new section of the bike trail.

www.west8.com

Client: Waterfront Toronto (http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca)

Team: West 8 + DTAH in association with Halsall Associates, Arup, Schollen & Company, Diamond + Schmitt Architects, David Dennis Design