Canoe Landing Campus: Community Centre, Elementary Schools, Childcare

Toronto, ON

Recognizing a vital need for a missing social and educational nexus in Toronto’s booming downtown core, the new Canoe Landing Campus designed by ZAS Architects Inc., houses a $65M community recreation centre, public and Catholic elementary schools and a childcare centre within one innovative campus.

To the benefit of the community, the City of Toronto and two publicly funded school boards collaborated to create better facilities than they could have built individually. Community engagement, urban design excellence, and sustainability have been integrated into an innovative partnership model, providing a new solution to the urban intensification currently experienced by many cities around the globe.

Serving an important social function, the campus architecture supports a new platform for connection. In a vertical, urban community where neighbours often experience solitary lifestyles, this interaction is vital. Conceived as a social condenser, the building program was developed through multiple community meetings attended by hundreds of residents. Community input generated innovative spaces such as indoor play areas geared to enhancing children’s gross motor skills and the creation of multi-purpose rooms that adapt to both active and passive uses.

Sustainability and resiliency are prominently integrated, including maximizing green roof opportunities and an introduction of photo-voltaic panels to generate 10% renewable energy to meet the highest level of the City of Toronto Green Standards. Above, the building features a dynamic, “active” green roof – complete with a basketball court, jogging track and urban gardens. Functioning as a natural extension of the adjacent Canoe Landing Park, the sloping green roofs sculpturally address both aesthetics and functionality, creating a “fifth elevation” rather than a typical roof.

Toronto’s population boom and an influx of new, culturally diverse residents means that to meet demand, homes, and neighbourhoods will continue to rise skywards. The Canoe Landing Campus serves as an urban model with the ability to socially bind these vertical communities together.

Client

City of Toronto & Childrens Services

Toronto District School Board

Toronto Catholic District School Board

Size

158,893 sqft on 3.32 acre site

Program

Canoe Landing Community Recreation Centre

Canoe Landing Childcare Centre

Jean Lumb Public School

Bishop Macdonell Catholic Elementary School

Below Grade Parking Garage