Underpass Park will be the most extensive park to ever be built under an overpass in Canada, and the first ever in Toronto. Located under and around the Eastern Avenue, Richmond and Adelaide overpasses, the park will transform the derelict and underused space into a bright, new, urban neighbourhood amenity and key pedestrian connection and passageway. Waterfront Toronto together with the Governments of Canada, Ontario and the City of Toronto celebrated the official start of construction on May 26, a significant milestone in the development of the West Don Lands.

The imposing concrete structures of the overpasses currently act as a barrier between the north and south parts of the community. Underpass Park innovatively re-engineers the area under the overpasses to create an inviting

public space that connects the two parts of the West Don Lands, contributing to the vibrancy of the neighbourhood and the success of the development projects underway in the area.

Designed by renowned landscape architectural firm Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg with The Planning Partnership, Underpass Park embodies design excellence and is the epitome of innovative modern urban park design. The design maximizes the unique site conditions imposed by the massive concrete overpasses to convert a neighbourhood liability into a welcoming and distinct public space.

The park is being built in two phases, with the portion east of St. Lawrence Street adjacent to both the River City private sector development and the new affordable housing complex by Toronto Community Housing, being constructed first. The first phase is expected to be complete by the end of 2011. The second phase of the park, on the western side of St. Lawrence Street, will be built in the future.

The park’s design is influenced by the massive overpass structures. The design embraces the infrastructure to create opportunities for activities and planting in the open air and covered areas as well as in the unusual spaces resulting from large concrete beams and columns.

One of the park’s defining design features will be a series of long, narrow ribbon-like strips made from a palette of concrete and ipe wood. These ribbons, located throughout both the covered and uncovered areas of the park, will rise from the ground creating both directional cues for pedestrians as well as informal park benches and gathering spaces. Key portions of the ribbons will be illuminated by LED lights. The design of these ribbons is influenced by both the physical infrastructure of the overpasses as well as the natural qualities of the nearby Don River.

About half of the park (0.6 hectares) is covered by the overpasses. This area will be defined by recreational space such as ball hockey and basketball courts, adult recreation facilities and playful climbing structures for all ages. It will also include flexible community space that can be used for markets, festivals and community events.

The remainder of the park (0.4 hectares) will be open to the sun. In this area, dense groves of trees, grass and other plantings will add much needed greenspace, creating a natural gateway to the West Don Lands. Community gardens also make up a part of the southwestern edge of the park providing additional opportunities for residents to interact with each other and nature.

To ensure the area is safe and inviting at all times of day, the design places a strong emphasis on lighting. The park will be lit by a

combination of LED lighting on the columns, shielded in-ground and in-wall lights, and illuminated concrete ribbons at the seating areas which create a variety of different illuminating effects. The more than 50 overpass columns will be colourfully lit using diffuse LED spotlights.

Underpass Park is part of Waterfront Toronto’s Stage 1 Gold certification under the LEED for Neighbourhood Development (ND) pilot program. Some of the sustainability best practices incorporated into the park’s design include energy efficient LED lighting; drought, salt and shade tolerant planting for minimal maintenance and irrigation; recycled content in play surfaces, and the use of reclaimed granite cobbles.

Trees:

Kentucky Coffee and Black Locust are the primary trees. These tree species were chosen because they are highly salt tolerant with a leaf pattern that allows light to penetrate their canopies to limit shading.

Public art will play a critical role in Underpass Park. When planning the overarching public art strategy for the West Don Lands, Underpass Park was identified as a high priority public art opportunity. In late 2009, Waterfront Toronto launched its first ever artist competition to select artwork for the park. Paul Raff of Toronto, an award winning artist and architect, was the artist selected. He is currently working on an installation that will use reflectivity to draw people into and through the space. The concept is to engage the public through the playful use of reflection to bounce light around the space and accentuate its positive qualities in an interesting and sculptural way.