Toronto Waterfront WaveDecks
Encyclopedia
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The wavedecks are new public spaces that vary in shape, articulation and design to reflect the movement of Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
. Each is artistic and functional and have proven to be major public attractions along the harbourfront
Harbourfront
Harbourfront is a neighbourhood on the northern shore of Lake Ontario within the downtown core of the city of Toronto, Canada. Part of the Toronto Waterfront, Harbourfront extends west from Yonge Street to Bathurst Street along Queen's Quay. East of Yonge to Parliament St...
.
History
In June 2006, West 8West 8
West 8 is an urban planning and landscape architecture firm founded by Adrian Geuze in the Netherlands. It is known for its contemporary designs and innovative solutions to urban planning problems using lighting, metal structures, and color....
and DTAH won the Toronto Central Waterfront Innovative Design Competition for their entry that included the construction of a series wavedecks along Toronto's waterfront. Each wavedeck is unique and designed to resemble to the contours of Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
's shoreline and reclaim parts of the shoreline along water's edge south of Queens Quay.
A total of four WaveDecks were constructed, each acting as unique gateways to the waterfront. Once the transformation is complete, WaveDecks will be at the foots of Spadina Avenue, and Rees, Simcoe, and Parliament streets. The Spadina WaveDeck opened in late-summer of 2008, followed by the opening of the Simcoe WaveDeck in June 2009 and the Rees WaveDeck in July, 2009.
Spadina WaveDeck
43.63753°N 79.39164°WThe first WaveDeck was constructed at the Spadina Head of Slip, consisting of a 620 metre squared undulating wood pedestrian deck over water, adjacent to the foot of Spadina Avenue south of Queens Quay
Queen's Quay (Toronto)
Queen's Quay is a prominent street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street was originally commercial in nature due to the many working piers along the waterfront...
Boulevard. Construction started in November 2007 by Somerville contractors and lasted 10 months. The Spadina WaveDeck links two waterfront parks - Music Garden and HTO Park
HTO Park
HTO is an urban beach in Toronto, Canada, that opened in 2007. It west of Harbourfront Centre, on Lake Ontario.-History:The park is built on quays that was once used by ships berthing in Toronto's Inner Harbour.The park consists of two sections:...
. The WaveDeck cost $4.1 million to build and is made 3,564 wooden planks.
The Spadina WaveDeck won the 2009 Toronto Urban Design Award of Excellence in the Small Open Space category.
Simcoe WaveDeck
43.63898°N 79.38462°WThe Simcoe WaveDeck opened in June 2009. The artistic design has a dramatic 2.6 metre high curve as well as metal railings to prevent injuries. It is located just west of Simcoe Street at the water’s edge and has quickly become a major attraction along the waterfront.