PFS Studio is pleased to announce that Waterfront Toronto’s new West Don Lands community is the recipient of the Urban Land Institute’s 2017-2018 Global Award for Excellence.
Together with the Planning Partnership, PFS Studio led the public realm design for this award winning community and was central in the creation of a distinct hierarchy of streets, signature local parks and vibrant public open spaces laying the foundation for this massive and ambitious 94 acre redevelopment of an industrial brownfield site located on the eastern edge of downtown Toronto. Within the TPP led multi-disciplinary team, PFS Studio is largely credited with delivering two iconic new public spaces in the WDL, namely the Front Street East Promenade Park and Underpass Park both national and international award winning projects in their own right. The West Don Lands were home to the 2015 Pan American Games and is now viewed as one of Canada’s first truly sustainable large scale communities.
This award is one of 13 development projects around the world to be selected as a winner of the 2017–2018 Global Awards for Excellence, widely recognized as one of the land use industry’s most prestigious awards programs. The Urban Land Institute Awards for Excellence recognize the full development process of a project, not just its architecture or design.
“ULI began the Awards for Excellence program in 1979 with the objective of recognizing truly superior development efforts. The criteria for the awards include factors that go beyond good design, including leadership, contribution to the community, innovations, public/private partnership, environmental protection and enhancement, response to societal needs, and financial success. Winning projects represent the highest standards of achievement in the development industry—standards that ULI members deem worthy of attainment in their professional endeavors.”
Read more about the awards here.
Photos by Brett Ryan and Tom Arban