WATERFRONT TORONTO LAUNCHES DESIGN COMPETITION
FOR JARVIS SLIP
Foot of Jarvis Street to become key component
in network of world renowned waterfront public spaces
Toronto, November 23, 2007 – Waterfront Toronto has selected four distinguished teams to participate in the design competition to enhance the public space at the Jarvis Slip. The teams selected to participate in the design competition are:
• Daoust Lestage, Inc.
• Janet Rosenberg & Associates
• Claude Cormier architectes paysagistes inc.
• West 8 + DTAH
Waterfront Toronto will hold a public exhibition of completed design proposals and a review by a five member jury of prominent arts and design professionals leading to a January 28th announcement of the winner.
“This is yet another opportunity for Waterfront Toronto to distinguish the public realm on the waterfront and in so doing, continue to build a great waterfront for Toronto†said John Campbell, Waterfront Toronto’s President and CEO.
The intersection of Lower Jarvis Street and Queens Quay is a key gateway to the future East Bayfront community. Waterfront Toronto is sponsoring this Invited Design Competition to produce an innovative design and bring a fresh, new perspective to the one-acre site at the foot of Lower Jarvis Street. Designs are expected to readily accommodate large scale gatherings and performances without compromising its day-to-day informal usage.
This space is seen as a complementary component of the public realm in the East Bayfront precinct, which will also include a revitalized Queens Quay, Sherbourne Park, Aitken Place Park, as well as the water’s edge promenade and public streets. Jarvis Slip public space will perform as a forecourt to the new First Waterfront Place building, which will be the home of Corus Entertainment, as well as a public gathering place for the East Bayfront precinct and a civic public square for the city at large.
The East Bayfront Precinct Plan was prepared by Waterfront Toronto and endorsed by Toronto City Council in December 2005. The vision for the East Bayfront precinct is as a new urban waterfront community, a place characterized by design excellence, high levels of sustainability and strong relationships to the water’s edge. East Bayfront will
accommodate a mix of land uses and range of built form typologies, with building arranged to give appropriate definition, identity and scale to the public realm within the
precinct. Parks and public spaces such as Jarvis Slip public space will be vital amenities for both residents of this community and visitors.
Waterfront Toronto has formed a Jarvis Slip Public Space Stakeholder Committee to provide an on-the-ground perspective on the problems and opportunities they see from their day-to-day experience with the area.
This design competition is being run by Waterfront Toronto in co-operation with the City of Toronto and other government partners.
The Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s Waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.
-30-
Media contact:
Marisa Piattelli, VP, Government Relations, Communications and Special Projects
416-214-1344 ext. 233
mpiattelli@waterfrontoronto.ca
 
Thanks for that.

Didn't we already have a competition for this area and West 8 won? Are we now having mini-competitions for smaller parts of the larger waterfront plan?
 
West 8 was selected for the Central Waterfront, of which I think Jarvis is included... or was it only until Yonge?
 
West 8 won the competition for the unified waterfront design, but I believe that each slip will be designed individually. Also, each of the parks are being designed individually (like Sherbourne Park)
 
Not to be pessimist, but will anything ever come of all of these competitions and proposals? I would like to think so, but I continually get the impression that there is no government support and that most plans hinge on financial support from the upper levels, before anything can really be done...?

It has been an awesome experience seeing all of the competitions take place and seeing the high level of architecture/urban planning/design etc., being displayed in this city. I hope these plans are not doomed, like so many of the past, to the bottom of some dusty filing cabinet located deep in the archives of City Hall..

p5
 
p5:

Well, considering Don River Park/West Don Lands, West 8 Spadina slip and East Bayfront is already under construction, I wouldn't be terribly pessimistic.

AoD
 
Many of those competitions are almost ready to start construction. Each winning competition is going to get built. They arent doing this to see what could be, but what will be.

Once the winning design is chosen, there is a competition for construction companies to bid on who can build the design. The construction companies need time to come up with a plan for being able to build what is designed and figure their costs etc. Once a winner is chosen there, then the technical details are worked out, permits are applied for and environmental assessments are conducted. It is only after all that happens that construction can begin. As we all know, the EA process alone can take a VERY LONG TIME.
 
It does seem like there are a lot of design competitions, yet not much being built. Anyone know how much has been spent on studies?!

I don't know about West 8th (wasn't it a big competition to do the whole water front area?), but all the other projects now under construction are by others: Pier 27 (Citizen Grp.), Don River Park (ORC), Chorus Building (TEDCO) and Film Port (Toronto Film Studios/TEDCO).
 
This might be old news but there's a sh!t-load of heavy equipment on the Corus site. Excavators, shoring... it's a huge site being turned upside-down.... at least 8 transformer type creatures doing stuff. Much like the Trump site.
 
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