Sherbourne Common is both major civic amenity and poetic stormwater treatment infrastructure, and a key component of the renaissance of Toronto's waterfront. The park seamlessly integrates stormwater management, landscape, program and art and is the first Canadian park to integrate a UV purification facility for neighbourhood-wide stormwater treatment.
As one of the first pieces to be built in Toronto's new East Bayfront neighbourhood, Sherbourne Commons' high profile success communicates the importance and power of the public realm in generating new communities.
This hybridized park-infrastructure solution shows a way to creat great public amenities in a time of extreme fiscal parsimony by capitalizing on budgets for civic infrastructure for public amenity and program.
The park transforms the way Toronto connects to its waterfront (it is the first site along the redeveloping waterfront to make a strong public connection from Lake Shore Boulevard all the way to Lake Ontario).
The park is designed to serve as both a city-wide destination and a neighbourhood amenity, and to be used in all seasons and at all times of day with a diversity of amenities: playgrounds, gardens, water features, art, intimate gathering spaces, splash park, skating rink, park pavilion, and a civic green.
