ArchShowcase 
Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. The Bentway in Toronto, Canada by PUBLIC WORKApril 19th, 2019 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: PUBLIC WORK The Bentway is transforming a 1.75km space under Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway into a vibrant public place where visitors can experience a diverse mix of activities and programs. The initial phase – from Strachan Avenue to Bathurst Street – reinvigorates the area beneath the expressway into a vital artery for pedestrians and cyclists, stitching together seven neighbourhoods, expanding access to key areas such as the Fort York National Historic Site, and creating a new gathering place for Toronto’s growing population. The multifunctional space is an expression of Toronto’s unique creative energy and serves as an example of how the re-use of infrastructure can support new forms of public life.  At Strachan Gate, pivoting panels measuring over 5m tall create a dynamic screen at the west entrance to the project and provide a canvas for art installations. In their open position, they reflect the low, westerly sun deep into the site, and in their closed position, they provide a sense of visual and audio enclosure for the timber bleachers, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux
 PUBLIC WORK worked with Gensler to design cascading timber bleachers at Strachan Gate that act as both steps into The Bentway as well as seating for either informal gatherings or grand performances, and in the future will be complete with washrooms and a green room, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux
 The west entrance becomes a new public link into the wider city network of trails and cycle lanes, connecting a constellation of public spaces and neighbourhoods, and enhancing access to Toronto’s waterfront, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux  A 220-metre long trail serves a dual purpose, acting as a skate trail in the winter and a path with a splash pad in the summer, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux The project is unprecedented in many ways. It was funded through a unique public-private partnership between the City of Toronto and philanthropists Judy and Wilmot Matthews, who contributed $25-million to the project. Judy and Wil were inspired by the vision of urbanist Ken Greenberg and landscape architecture firm PUBLIC WORK to re-imagine the expressway – arguably the city’s most divisive symbol of 20th century transportation planning – as a new model of shared public space activated by year-round programming. The Bentway’s design and programming are rooted in its site – in its built environment and the layered histories and potential futures of the area. What happens at The Bentway “can only happen here.” Extensive public consultation with neighbours and an array of potential user groups informed both PUBLIC WORK’s design of the physical environment as well as the programming, which is now being brought to life by The Bentway Conservancy, a new not-for-profit that manages, operates and programs the space.  The Bentway embraces the possibilities of each season – offering different programming opportunities, temporary installations, pop-up experiences and recreational activities throughout the year, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux  Landscape Architect PUBLIC WORK’s ethos was to preserve the site’s rawness—the project’s materiality demonstrates resourcefulness and an overall desire to apply the lightest touch to achieve the greatest impact, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux PUBLIC WORK’s starting point for the design was the Gardiner’s series of supportive concrete columns called “bents,” that can either function together or on their own to offer spaces for a diverse range of programming and events – from passive, contemplative spaces to creative hubs and marketplaces. The expressway provides a canopy at varying heights from intimate to a majestic 15-metres high, with the bents offering structural support for clamps, cables, power and lighting – which are designed to meet both the requirements of large performance groups and the needs of fringe productions. On the ground, the project knits together public and private land, treats storm water and repurposes displaced soil to establish a new topography.  The design team conceived lighting as both a daytime and nighttime experience – using light to its greatest advantage. The bents are painted with reflective, metallic paint to enhance wayfinding (designed by Bespoke Cultural Collective and Design Holmen) while following the path of the sun to maximize daylight deeper in the space, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux  The underside of the expressway, varying in height from intimate to a majestic 15-metres high is re-cast as a metropolitan-scaled canopy, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux Visitors descend into The Bentway at Strachan Gate via an open-air amphitheatre complete with washrooms and a green room, and bleachers to seat about 250. They can enjoy performances there or on an adjacent lawn that can accommodate another 500 people. A cedar “wharf” in front of the Fort York Visitor Centre offers another event space, adjacent to a “liquid landscape” of indigenous grasses that will be watered by storm run-off from the roadway above through a sustainable and thoughtful drainage system. The 220-metre skate trail that opened in January 2018 becomes a path with a kids’ splash pad in the summer. In the next phase, a wooden bridge suspended from the underside of the Gardiner will provide a warm and organic contrast to the industrial aesthetic and a safe route across Fort York Boulevard. From the bridge visitors will be able to look down onto Fort York, thereby broadening both the accessibility and awareness of the historic site. The novel design of the bridge, constructed from cross-laminated timber and glulam, harnesses the excess structural capacity of the existing concrete bents of the Gardiner to suspend the bridge from the existing structure.  A 72m long cedar “wharf” in front of the Fort York Visitor Centre (designed by Kearns Mancini Architects and Patkau Architects) offers another event space, adjacent to a “liquid landscape” of native grasses and rain gardens to treat storm water run-off, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux  The starting point for The Bentway’s design was the site itself. The expressway’s series of supportive concrete columns called “bents” are transformed to offer wayfinding, structural supports (for clamps, cables, power and lighting systems) and act as backdrop for programming and events, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux The project’s materiality demonstrates resourcefulness and an overall desire to apply the lightest touch to achieve the greatest impact. For example, the paving system focuses on recycled materials including construction debris retrieved from the Leslie Street Spit. The numbers on the concrete columns, originally marked for repair purposes, are reinterpreted for wayfinding, cast into the path and painted on the bents with reflective paint that catches the daylight. Each material is reflective of the spirit of place and conveys the rich layers of Toronto’s history. PUBLIC WORK’s design of The Bentway creates a foundation of sustainable practices that anticipate its future use and evolution as a public space.  Skateboarders enjoy the opening of CITE, a celebration of skateboard arts and culture, Image Courtesy © Denise Militzer  The team moved soil to establish a green lawn that doubles as a seating area for performances. With this green lawn, the project adds over 3000 sq.m of additional green space over a formerly paved parking lot, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux  The Bentway hosts free Yoga during a “Sunday Social” event, Image Courtesy © Nicole Pacampara  Pedestrians and cyclists can enter The Bentway directly off of Strachan Ave, where a pathway has been added to welcome visitors into the site. and act as backdrop for programming and events, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux  The Bentway is transforming a stretch of 1.75km space under the Gardiner Expressway into a new vibrant public place where the local community and visitors from across Toronto and beyond can experience a diverse mix of activities and programs, Image Courtesy © Nic Lehoux  Singing Out Choir performs at the opening of The Bentway Skate Trail, Image Courtesy © Andrew Williamson  The Bentway celebrates the official launch of Strachan Gate and the completion of Phase 1 with an all-day block party, Image Courtesy © Andrew Williamson  A busy summer day at The Bentway Beer Garden, Image Courtesy © Nicole Pacampara  WATERLICHT at The Bentway – a monumental public art intervention designed by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde created a dream landscape through the imaginative use of LEDs, special software and lenses. Larger-than-life cascading waves of blue light soared through The Bentway, simulating a virtual flood and also calling attention to the site as Toronto’s former shoreline as well as the rising water levels of Lake Ontario, Image Courtesy © Nicola Betts  Phase 2 will see a wooden bridge (CLT and glulam) suspended from the expressway that will provide a warm and organic contrast to the industrial aesthetic, Image Courtesy © PUBLIC WORK  Phase 2 will see a wooden bridge (CLT and glulam) suspended from the expressway that will provide a warm and organic contrast to the industrial aesthetic, Image Courtesy © PUBLIC WORK  The Bentway Site Plan, Image Courtesy © PUBLIC WORK
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Categories: Activity Center, Event space, public spaces, Renovation, Visitor Center |
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