The Spadina WaveDeck was the first wavedeck built along Toronto’s downtown waterfront. Located at the foot of Spadina Avenue, the 630 square-metre wooden wavedeck provides a waterside gathering place in an area that was formerly a narrow sidewalk and lacked public access to the lake. It creates more public space along one of the most heavily used parts of the Toronto shoreline and helps connect two key waterfront amenities, the Music Garden and HtO Park.

The impressive public space, made of yellow gluelam cedar and ipe wood, offers people a place where they can relax by the lake – within a very urban part of the city. The upper crest of the wavedeck offers broad views of both the lake and the city.

In addition to amphitheatre-style seating on the steps of the wavedeck, a 57 metre backless bench creates a perfect place to relax and gather by the lake. The bench also acts as an innovative and elegant barrier to the water. In the evening, the deck is lit from below with colourful LED fixtures. These colourful lights cast a glow from the lake creating a beautiful effect on the deck and the water.

The Spadina WaveDeck is one in a series of wavedecks planned for the downtown waterfront area – three of which are now open including the Rees and Simcoe WaveDecks. Planning is currently underway on the Parliament WaveDeck, an impressive 3,000 square metre structure located in East Bayfront.

The Spadina WaveDeck has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including a Toronto Urban Design Award. It was also the first Canadian project ever to be short-listed for the world-acclaimed Brit Insurance Design Awards.

Take a tour of the wavedecks with Christopher Hume of The Star.com

The wavedeck construction included the creation of 1150 square metre of new high quality, diverse fish habitat. Riverstone shoals, tree logs and embankments were installed to provide shelter and increased feeding and forging opportunities for lake fish. Aquatic Habitat Toronto, of which Waterfront Toronto is a partner, has won a Public Sector Quality Fair award for the aquatic habitat enhancement work being done on Toronto’s waterfront.

Location: Foot of Spadina Avenue on the south side of Queens Quay Boulevard

Design Team: West 8 + DTAH

Construction Contractor: Somerville Construction

Size: 630m², 10.7m (length), 45m (width)

Number of deck boards: 2730 deck boards (2275 short deck boards and 455 long deck boards)

Materials: Ipe wood and gluelam Coastal Yellow cedar