Quayside Toronto and the overstory

Quayside’s design draws from the site’s history as a place of connection between land, water, and people. Developed across five city blocks alongside co-lead architects Adjaye Associates and Alison Brooks, the neighborhood will introduce 800 new affordable housing units, 3.5 acres of public spaces, and one of Canada’s tallest mass timber buildings, featuring a rooftop urban farm.

The integrated landscape design centers a 2-acre ’Community Forest’ and a 2.5-acre network of car-free green spaces, approaching nature as a connector – linking public squares, plazas, and parks across the site. Prioritizing walking, cycling, and public transit access, connections to surrounding neighborhoods and pathways to the waterfront are created.

The project reflects Indigenous principles of stewardship and living in relationship with natural systems. By restoring ecological flows and expanding public access to the shoreline, Quayside reimagines the waterfront as a gathering place shaped by the area’s layered history and geography.