Toronto Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto

Gphorce said:
Why would they allocate so much space for vehicles? It's going to happen exactly like you said. If anything it should be a curb-less road with consistent paving all the way across. The Honest Ed's proposal is planning on doing this, I don't see why the same treatment couldn't be applied here.
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I'm pretty sure curb-less is the plan:

Wheeled vehicles and pedestrians will all share a curb-free, paved environment blurring the boundaries between road, sidewalk and plaza. A significantly widened sidewalk approach from the north and a seamless connection to the waterfront promenade will provide ample space for large summer crowds. By removing the existing suppressed condo access road and extending Bay Street into the site, buses, taxis and other vehicles will be able to drop-off and pick-up visitors in an orderly and efficient manner.
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Apparently those architects and designers were not given information regarding the boundaries of the park. In most of the proposals they are including private property of the Harbour square building.
 
Ryan_T said:
Maybe they're appropriating it, like a POPS. Such a vibrant area right next to them can only be beneficial.
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There is road that allows the residents vital access to Bay street, in some of the proposals this is eliminated. How could this be beneficial? There is connection to the hotel that is eliminated. How is this beneficial for the residents?
As far as I know POPS can be achieved trough negotiation between the City and the owner/developer, where the developer wants permits and the City allows it under concession agreement from the owner.
 
Of course critical paths will have to stay, or be properly rerouted. As for how this is accomplished, cities have altered property lines in the past. I'm sure the right people will be able to work something out if a good enough plan is attempted. The Harbourfront is an important area, some exceptions or special treatment should be made by both the city and the property owners of the area.
 
We all want Harbourfront to look better, but we, the residents don't want to be suferring permanently as a result of this beautification.
 
Our third in-depth look at one of the entries, from Clement Blanchet Architecture, Batlle│Roig, RVTR, Scott Torrance, is now up here.

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Considering how the walkways at Nathan Phillips Square haven't been a success and how people consider the Gardiner Expressway a barrier, more elevated walkways don't seem desirable. People just want to get as close to the water as possible.
 
And here's our fourth in-depth look at one of the entries, from KPMB Architects, West 8, Greenberg Consulting, now up here.

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And we have now wrapped up the last of the entries with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, architectsAlliance, and WJ Hood Design, here.

And just to weigh in myself, this is my favourite of the structures, but not the park design. I'll go into that later!

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junctionist said:
Considering how the walkways at Nathan Phillips Square haven't been a success and how people consider the Gardiner Expressway a barrier, more elevated walkways don't seem desirable. People just want to get as close to the water as possible.
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Had a chat with a friend the other day as we looked over the designs. I'm not sure what purpose there would be to climb up to the elevated platform. Maybe if I were running, I'd make that part of my route. Otherwise, there's very little reason to linger if there are no benches, shelter from the sun, or wind, etc.

I think the elevated area would be more inviting if it had greenery for shade, and maybe benches, etc. And a secondary stair/access to easily drop to the boardwalk below.


Civic Canopy is still my favourite. The potential uses are endless. The KPMB design is great, but very limited to serving only the ferry-goers.
 
Most of these proposals are incredible in their own right but I like that WaterfronTO is open to picking and choosing the best of each proposal and combining them into one.

I like that the Civic Canopy creates a real landmark terminal that can be used for farmers markets and other gatherings. I like the Clement Blanchet proposal's opening up of Bay Street, culminating in a lookout that juts over the lake with views to the island. I like how it connects over the Yonge slip to make the site more accessible from across the waterfront on all sides. I specially love the touch of having Jack Layton's bicycle sculpture in the middle of the ramp and replicas of the Nathan Philips chalk drawings on the floor.

West 8's proposal contains landscaping elements that I'd like to see integrated as they developed the master plan for the waterfront and their wave decks, boardwalks and bridges should be brought into this plan as well. I specially like their undulating hills in the park while I'm not a fan of hiding the terminal under one.

Alsop's bridge over the site is fun and I like the steps leading into the isolated slip. The creatures are features that we'd soon get tired of and would wonder what we were thinking in a decade from now.

I find little to like about Cloud Park. It seems to leave most of the layout intact, even maintaining the isolated east end of the site to cars. The pool and the mist ideas are nice but I would be happy to eliminate this proposal overall so that we can focus on the great ideas in the others.

In the end, I'd like to see the Civic Canopy selected as the terminal, West8's undulating hills in the park, a wave deck on Yonge, and a boardwalk and bridge leading over the Yonge slip. I'd like Clement Blanchet's grand pedestrian avenue and stairs leading in from Bay Street and turning into an elevated public square jutting over the water with a cutout below for Jack Layton's bicycle statue. The west quay could be isolated to make the water swimmable with a sloping terrain like a beach. On the other side, similar steps would allow canoes and kayaks to launch into the open lake. Perhaps we can also add the geysers in the day time and lit up mist generators at night.
 
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I like a number of these proposals, the more of a destination the park can be, the better. One clear feature stands out as something that should be incorporated into all designs and that is the continual boardwalk. I think it is an important design feature of the overall harbourfront to have a continual boardwalk including slip end bridges and a well integrated ferry terminal design would continue the boardwalk, elevated as required, through this part of the waterfront as well.
 
EnviroTO said:
I like a number of these proposals, the more of a destination the park can be, the better. One clear feature stands out as something that should be incorporated into all designs and that is the continual boardwalk. I think it is an important design feature of the overall harbourfront to have a continual boardwalk including slip end bridges and a well integrated ferry terminal design would continue the boardwalk, elevated as required, through this part of the waterfront as well.
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It's a shame the slip bridge project seems to be dead, there are quite a few areas along the waterfront that are mostly deserted because people tend to stick along Queen's Quay or the more lively sections of the waterfront like at harbourfront centre.
 
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