88 Queen Street
88 Queen Street
Toronto (Ontario), Canada

Two pocket parks, a perimeter streetscape, and a mid-block mews for a large mixed-use tower development

The scale proposed for the outdoor spaces in this bustling part of downtown aspires to cultivate public intimacy and a contagious optimism for the urban experience. The perimeter streetscape of trees in large soil volumes, as well as an outdoor mews along the centre spine of the block, culminate at two outdoor rooms that define the heart of this development. The park proposed at the north features a large water wall (à la Paley Park in New York) to create a calming backdrop. A bosk canopy planted in a lush softscape at the centre of a concentric oval paving pattern defines the foreground. A bosk also defines the privately-owned public space (POPS) at the south, but with contrast here provided by a continuous hard surface of concentric squares. The interplay of pattern, material, water, and vegetation combine to provide a comfortable setting that relaxes personal space, creating an intimate public mise-en-scene within this increasingly dense neighbourhood.

Client
Queen Developments, St. Thomas Development Inc., Fitzrovia Real Estate

Collaboration
Hariri Pontarini Architects, Turner Fleischer Architects Inc., Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects

Area
11230 m2 (2.8 acres) - Development Footprint

Year
2015-2024

Status
Under construction

Categories
Master Plan
Skyscraper
Streetscape
Photo, Under Construction, 2021 - Stephen Job
Photo, Under Construction, 2020 - Joe Summa / Citi-Core Group Ltd.
Photo, Under Construction, 2021 - Stephen Job
Photo, Under Construction, 2021 - Stephen Job
Photo, Under Construction, 2020 - Claude Cormier et Associés
Photo, Under Construction, 2020 - Rafael Correa / Smith + Andersen
Public Park Rendering - Designstor
Public Park Plan - Claude Cormier et Associés
Master Plan - Claude Cormier et Associés
Rendering - Sergej Mileski
POPS Plan - Claude Cormier et Associés
Rendering - Sergej Mileski
Rendering - Sergej Mileski
Rendering - Sergej Mileski
Public Art Concept - Claude Cormier et Associés
Photomontage - Claude Cormier et Associés
POPS Elevation - CC+A
Rendering - Hariri Pontarini Architects