P3 Hospital Pursuit, Toronto, Ontario |
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The landscape design is a result of a holistic and integrated approach that considers connectivity to the site context and the architecture of the New Patient Care Tower (NPCT). It enables easy access and intuitive way-finding throughout the project site. While providing for patients, family members and staff of the hospital, the landscape is open and welcoming to the local community. It becomes the heart of the community, a meeting place between families, friends and those who work or being cared for in the hospital. To respond to the landscape approach as discussed in PSOS 3.1.7.5, the following three are key driving factors for the landscape design:
1. Healing Environment: There is a continuous theme in the landscape design. From the Coxwell Garden and Main entrance drop-off, to the roof terraces and green roofs, the sense of nature is all around the project site, thus promoting healing and better quality of life for the community by making the landscape as an integral part of the healing process [PSOS 3.1.7.5.1]. The landscape design strives to capitalize on all available green space and make it part of the experience of the hospital, surrounded by nature. By making nature an ever present element of the project, we begin to build much more than a healing garden, we create a healing environment. 2. Community Context: The landscape design was initially conceived as a welcoming gesture to invite the community into the gardens. From the northwesterly direction, Coxwell Garden opens generously to the potential visitor from the bus stop at Coxwell Avenue and Mortimer Avenue as well as the East York Civic Centre and medical offices and elementary school on the west side of Coxwell. A similar welcoming entrance was created for the potential visitor from the south along Sammon Avenue and the bus stop at the southeast corner of Coxwell and Sammon. While the frontage of the project along Coxwell is well established with the presence of Coxwell Garden and the building main entrance [PSOS 3.1.7.5.3], Sammon Avenue was treated with a generous setback of garden rooms that are connected by paths from each other and the sidewalk making it highly visible and prominent. These rooms can been seen as the extension of the front yard space for the residences along the south side of Sammon Avenue and thus integrating them into the neighbourhood and for the daily use as community spaces [PSOS 3.1.7.5.2]. 3. Integrated Design: The landscape is well integrated into many elements of the project. Through the team’s coordinated efforts, these integrated elements are multi-disciplinary. From the architectural and interior design of the NPCT, to the civil engineering of stormwater management, and coordination with the mechanical, electrical, and structural egnineers on the team, many aspects of the landscape design is coordinated with the building design and thus enable a coordinated wayfinding system and strategy that enables clear sightlines, landmarks and destinations [PSOS 3.1.7.5.4]. Landscape structures are designed to compliment both the architecture of the project as well as the landscape space that it inhabits. The stairway structure that leads the user to the underground parking garage is nestled into Coxwell Garden with a shade structure that hovers over a large gathering space, while safety barriers on roof terraces are designed as integrated elements into the building facade to enable an uninterrupted panoramic view of the garden below [PSOS 3.1.7.5.5]. Owner: Michael Garron Hospital Architect: Perkins & Will / Cumulus Architects Inc. / Walsh Group Year: 2017 Role: Senior Landscape Architect, Lead Designer & Project Manager while at PMA Landscape Architects External Links: Michael Garron Hospital Redevelopment - Toronto East Health Network Project Location |
