Iconic urban park revitalized to address evolving community needs.
Berczy Park is an iconic little park in a booming mixed-use neighbourhood. Positioned at the threshold between three iconic neighbourhoods – St. Lawrence, the Old Town, and the Financial District, Berczy Park is surrounded by some of the few remaining downtown blocks in Toronto that can still be counted as picturesque. A foreground of historic human scale facades and a backdrop of futuristic skyscrapers create a unique setting continually charged by a dynamic diversity in one of the densest neighbourhoods in the city.
The redesign for the park is composed of a plaza with a large fountain and detailed granite paving motif, an activity green space for passive activities, and a perennial garden next to the historic Flatiron Building with its iconic mural. Pathways running diagonally through the space establish long trajectories and sight lines to make this small park feel big. Scott Street just west of Berczy Park is to be formally integrated into the design as a pedestrian dominated space that merges seamlessly with its surrounding context.
The continuing surge in the number of dog owners has been manifest into a signature and playful fountain that merges a classic Victorian two-tiered fountain with a menagerie of spouting life-sized dog figures. Inspired by the park’s past and present, it will become a destination in the city appealing to children and attracting visitors. A discrete and playful dog-watering trough around the perimeter of the granite fountain basin accommodates the thousands of dog visits expected in the park on a weekly basis.
