University of Toronto and Rotman School Are Getting a Facelift

The downtown campus at the University of Toronto, home to the Rotman School of Management, is getting an update. Four designs were completed as part of the Landscape of Landmark Quality design competition. The goal of the project was to redirect the focus of the campus to be more about people and less about cars.

Currently, King’s College Circle is home to a multitude of tour buses and delivery vans. Instead of being a bustling area where university students can congregate, the Circle is basically a parking lot. The four new designs take the misused space and transform the landscape into an inviting green space that will not only serve as a venue for ceremonies and convocation but as a central hub of the campus. The proposals are all bold and expensive, likely taking years and costing millions to complete, but there is a vital need for the update.

Each design focuses on bringing nature back to the University of Toronto campus. The keys were to create inviting sight lines to and from Convocation Hall and toward CN Tower and to incorporate trees as well as bring back the Taddle Creek waterway, which was dammed in 1859.

To be chosen, each design was required to meet certain basic criteria:

• Surface parking from King’s College Circle, Hart House Circle, and Tower Road had to be eliminated.
• Traffic had to be limited, and service vehicle access needed to be discrete.
• Designs were also encouraged to improve the pedestrian experience and identify urban migratory routes across the University of Toronto Campus.
• Finally, the designs had to create a green space with added tree cover that would provide public spaces for the campus to congregate.

All design entries can be viewed here, and the public is invited to provide feedback. The winner will be selected in November.

regions: Toronto

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