Sherbourne Common Explained

Sherbourne Common
Area:1.47 hectares (3.63 acres)
Website:Sherbourne Common
Established:[July 23, 2009]
Opened:[September 24, 2010 (south) July 26, 2011 (north)]

Sherbourne Common,[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] designed by landscape architect Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg, is a waterfront park located in a former industrial area of Toronto. It is one of the earliest parks in Canada to incorporate a neighborhood-wide storm water treatment facility into its design. Located east of Lower Sherbourne Street, the 1.47 [10] hectare park spans two city blocks. It stretches from Lake Ontario to Lake Shore Boulevard in the north.

A Waterfront Toronto project, Sherbourne Common consists of a 240 meter long water channel featuring three art sculptures that rise nine meters, called "Light Showers", by artist Jill Anholt. The sculptures were made off-site utilizing reinforced fiberglass molds that were filled with agila concrete. In total, there are 182 planted trees, 108 Pacific Sunset Maple, 45 Red Oak, and 29 American Beech. The storm water treatment facility is located in the basement of the park’s Pavilion designed by Teeple Architects Inc . The plant treats the water and then returns it into the park through the three art installations.

Sustainability best practices

This Toronto park follows through on water efficient landscaping, while the Pavilion[11] meets Toronto's Green Building Requirements and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.[12] [13] Storm-water treatment facility in the Pavilion is powered by the renewable energy sources. Purified water is pushed through three concrete public art objects, each 9 metres high, into the man made water feature e.g. canal.Excess purified water is released into the Lake Ontario.

The park has bicycle storage and access to public transportation.

Notes and References

  1. http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/11/why-toronto-could-use-a-little-seoul Article in the National Post
  2. http://www.toronto.com/article/694329 Article in the Toronto Star Newspapers Limited City Guide
  3. http://urbantoronto.ca/database/projects/sherbourne-common-canadas-sugar-beach-and-waters-edge-promenade Map and the article from Urban Toronto website devoted to development and construction in the GTA and the leading source for news and information on the real estate and development industries in Toronto
  4. http://www.toronto.ca/parks/prd/facilities/complex/1860/index.htm Official City of Toronto website page about Sherbourne Common
  5. http://www.azuremagazine.com/newsviews/blog_content.php?id=1851 Article in the AZURE, magazine that profiles international designers and architects
  6. http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/what-do-kids-think-of-sherbourne-common Article in The Grid, a weekly city magazine
  7. https://www.thestar.com/news/article/866120--hume-sherbourne-common-is-anything-but Article in The Toronto Star
  8. http://www.tmig.ca/page11404156.aspx Video Time Lapse of the construction of the Sherbourne Common
  9. https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Sherbourne%20Common Sherbourne Common on Flicker
  10. http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/sherbourne_common Sherbourne Common, Toronto Official Page
  11. http://www.canadianarchitect.com/news/2009-canadian-architect-awards-of-excellence-winners-announced/1000351330 2009 Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence List
  12. http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/our_waterfront_vision/our_future_is_green/green_building_requirements Green Building Requirements
  13. http://www.cagbc.org Canadian Green Building Council