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+ ZEN COURTYARD

This contemporary glass and steel addition reaches out to the edge of a steeply wooded ravine hillside. The clients requested that the garden express the Zen-like tranquility and simplicity of the woodland. The terrace and steps were minimal interventions into the ravine. A sports court on the flat land extends the function of the outdoor space into the winter where the family can skate and play hockey at the ravine’s edge.

The edge of the woodland was restored through the addition of native plantings that bring nature even closer to the home.

+ A MINIMAL DESIGN INTERVENTION

Commerce Court Courtyard located in the heart of the financial district in downtown Toronto is one of Canada’s most prominent urban spaces. It is defined by two historic buildings: Commerce Court North, a significant Art Deco building completed in 1931 and Commerce Court West a classic modern building, designed by I.M. Pei in 1972. The client wanted to introduce planting into the courtyard. This resulted in moveable stainless steel planters that were fabricated to have minimal impact on the historic essence of the courtyard. The material and scale of the planters are a direct response to the landscape and architecture. The use of non-directional stainless steel respects the cladding of I.M. Pei’s classic modern building, eliminates maintenance issues. The planters are 3’ x 3’ x 3’ based on the grid used in the granite paving pattern. The installation of the planters in an arc, around the fountain, follows the rhythm of I.M Pei’s grid and re-enforces the fountain as a visual focus. Bolts inserted into the top of the planter’s edge reinforce their strength and deter skateboarders. A sun/shade study and an observation study of the users influenced the placement of the planters. Junipers and boxwood provide a continuous green throughout the year. Perennials provide interest during the summer. To the future delight of the courtyard participants, early March can predict the warmth of spring through the bright colours of seasonal bulbs such as tulips, and daffodils. The view can be enjoyed from above and within. Engineered rubber was placed under the planters to absorb their impact on the granite pavers at the request of the client. The black rubber pads raise the planter and create a shadow line, eliminating the need for a drainage base and reinforcing the concept of minimalism. The rubber pads allow a forklift to move the planters anywhere in the courtyard or street plaza. After September 11^th the planters were moved to the front plaza as a preventative measure against terrorists.

+ SCULPTURE PLAZA

Elias + was hired to rejuvenate a city sidewalk that had underground parking below. The slab needed repair due to salt damage.

A new Opera House began the process of regeneration of University Avenue, which the city has designated as the AVENUE OF THE ARTS. 200 University is a historic modernist office building designed in the 1960s style by John Parkin.

As part of the regeneration of the avenue and deteriorating parking slab, a sculpture plaza concept was proposed.

New granite pavers defined a platform for art, and enriched the plaza materially. The paving pattern created a dynamic perspective visually lengthening the plaza. A linear row of native red maples and stainless steel planters, create the edges and boundaries of the plaza. They enliven the space and add colour and texture to the stark modern aluminum building. Refinished seating steps generate social interaction and invite community participation.

To increase this participation, we suggested that city art schools contribute to a revolving display of public art pieces.

+ A SERIES OF TERRACES

The Samuel Edelstein Children’s Holocaust Garden honours the memory of children who perished in the holocaust of World War II. The garden elements are not meant to emphasize their loss. Rather they symbolically represent the indomitable spirit of humanity in its ability to conquer adversity.

Above all, it is a garden of celebration and joyous renewal.

The semi-circular stone Plinth surrounded by water is symbolic of the Chuppah, an outdoor trellis covered in flowering vines, where traditional Jewish weddings take place. It will host wedding ceremonies during the summer months.

The Water Wall of Life, the backdrop for the Chuppah Plinth, will flow year round as a symbol of on-going hope; a bronze wall cast in the form of abstract butterflies recalls the poems written by the children of Theresienstadt.

The Orchard of Pear Trees represents fertility and continuity.

The Children’s Learning Concourse is an outdoor terraced classroom with video instruction. It will host the community’s youth as they learn the lessons of history and natural science.

The stone retaining walls represent the Pillars of Humanity where plaques bearing the names of 7 Righteous Gentiles who saved the lives of children are mounted.

The sustainable Prairie Garden is filled with indigenous Canadian perennials, shrubs, and grasses chosen to attract endangered species of butterflies.

The paving stones on the Promenade, inscribed with the names and hometowns of the children will be interwoven through all of the elements of the Garden.

The Terraces, Chuppah Plinth, Promenade, Pillars of Humanity, Water Wall of Life and Orchard, will welcome all the guests of the Synagogue family – extending hospitality to the community in a spirit of tolerance and mutual understanding.

+ PLAZA OF NATIVE TREES

The TanenbaumChat Kimel Education Centre is an example of the design principles defined Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Master.

The intent of the masterplan as described above was carried through with the installation of the sugar maple bosques, marking the entry to the building. Hedgerows of trembling aspen and birches reinforce the linearity of seating benches where children can sit while waiting for their parents to pick them up. These benches also act as security devices.

Award – City of Vaughan, Urban Design Awards, Award of Merit (2008)

+ A CONDO COURTYARD

This project consists of twin modern residential towers of glass and cool metal toned pre-cast concrete. The towers were to be built on Yonge St.; one of Toronto’s most highly trafficked areas.

The developer was looking for a fresh and exciting contemporary approach to the typical condominium landscape design. We were able to accomplish this through the concept of integrating nature as a reflective urban oasis, in the urban community.

The urban oasis manifests itself in two interlocking courtyards.

One courtyard is a motor court accommodating vehicles for drop-off and pick-up access to the building. The private driveway contains a soothing water wall and landscaped trellis which leads to the central lobby.

The other courtyard designated as a pedestrian zone, connects the two towers with a continuous concrete wall that creates enclosure. This further defines the urban oasis creating a quiet reflective zone within the busy and noisy confines of Yonge St. The courtyard also acts as an entertainment area for tenants who wish to engage in leisure activities, such as eating, barbecuing, and relaxing in a natural environment integrated with the architecture of the two towers.

A gateway entrance branded with the Luxe logo separates the urban oasis form the motor court.

The paving throughout the project serves as a wayfinding and spatial organizing device. The contrasting materials designate various programmatic zones. The paving texture and colour visually extend the building materials into the landscape.

+ SHORTLISTED FOR 9/11 COMPETITION

The purpose of the Flight 93 National Memorial Competition is to lay a foundation for the planning and development of a national memorial at the place where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001, in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

The concept of scarring and healing takes the symbolic form of a translucent roof following the United Airlines flight path as it crashed into the exposed bedrock and disintegrated. The scars are both the crash site and the landscape polluted through years of strip mining and agriculture.

Natural succession will slowly heal the landscape and bring it to its original state of a Carolinian forest. The final design places the memorial, a luminous roofscape, within a white and green meadow representing healing through hope and purity (colours inspired by the American Suffragette movement) and reaches its flowering peak on September 11th.

+ A MANHATTAN COMPETITION

The garden is founded in hope and optimism for an AIDS free future…

The light emanates from a chamber of treasured memories of lives lived and lives lost…

The lenses reveal the vault of names…

The garden includes the gentle fall of the waters of life and the whispers of the trembling aspen echoing the stories of those remembered…