Canada’s Sugar Beach is a whimsical new park that transformed a surface parking lot in a former industrial area into Toronto’s second urban beach at the water’s edge. Located at the foot of Lower Jarvis Street adjacent to the Redpath Sugar Factory, the 8500 square metre (2 acre) park is the first public space visitors see as they travel along Queens Quay from the central waterfront. The park’s brightly coloured pink beach umbrellas and iconic candy-striped rock outcroppings welcome visitors to the new waterfront neighbourhood of East Bayfront.

The design for Canada’s Sugar Beach, by Claude Cormier Architectes Paysagistes draws upon the industrial heritage of the area and its relationship to the neighbouring Redpath Sugar factory. The park features three distinct components: an urban beach; a plaza space; and a tree-lined promenade running diagonally through the park.

Canada’s Sugar Beach reminds us that Toronto’s waterfront is a playful destination. The beach allows visitors to while away the afternoon as they read, play in the sand or watch boats on the lake. A dynamic water feature embedded in a granite maple leaf beside the beach makes cooling off fun for adults and children.

The park’s plaza offers a dynamic space for public events. A large candy-striped granite rock outcropping and three grass mounds give the public unique vantage points for larger events and the spaces between the mounds result in a natural performance space for smaller events.

Between the plaza and the beach, people will stroll through the park along a promenade featuring granite and tumbled concrete cobblestones in a maple leaf mosaic pattern. Lined with mature maple trees, the promenade offers a shaded route to the water’s edge providing the public with many opportunities along the way to sit and enjoy views to the lake, beach or plaza.

Canada’s Sugar Beach has two important neighbours – Redpath Sugar to its west across the Jarvis Slip and Corus Quay, the new headquarters for Corus Entertainment on its eastern edge. The park’s design bridges the gap between old and new by celebrating Redpath’s important industrial heritage and the new creative vibe Corus Entertainment brings to the waterfront. All summer long, Corus employees will spill out into the park using its unique plaza space for concerts, film screenings and other live events against a backdrop of large freighters docking in the slip to deliver sugar to Redpath.

Design Team: Claude Cormier Architectes Paysagistes Inc. in association with The Planning Partnership.

Location: Foot of Lower Jarvis Street on the eastern edge of the Jarvis Slip, south of Queens Quay Boulevard

Size: 8500 m² (2 acres) + 1280 m² (0.3 acres) temporary landscaping for Block 1

Shoreline frontage: 225 metres

Number of trees: 57

Number of beach chairs and umbrellas: 150 chairs; 36 umbrellas