Retention Wall:

Clay Core FPL Soil

Capping Soil

Park Fill

Planting Medium

C O R K T O W N C O M M O NToronto, ON, Canada

Project Goals:

Extending from Queen Street in the north to the railway tracks in the south, the flood protection landform is 775 metres long, four metres high and is made of roughly 400,000 cubic metres of clean soil from across the Greater Toronto Area.

Running like a ribbon through its center is a 1.5 metre clay core, which varies in height to prevent water from penetrating through it. It also includes an armoured slope, made up of stones of different sizes that help prevent the clay core from eroding.

Marshland:

In the southern-most part of the park, a non-regulation size athletic field was designed for sports. In the winter, the athletic field serves as the base of a tobogganing hill that rises toward the playground.

The goal was to protect the site from the Don River which flooded into the area, threatening to infiltrate up to 519 acres (210 hectares) of Toronto.

Don River210 HECTARES OF FLOOD PROTECTION

Don River

Population Age:

0-4 5-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-6465-69 70+

4.2%

13.8%

16.1%

7.2%

4.6%

7.5%

The age variation in the area was in consideration when designing a site that had to have dual function. The peak age of the population was from 20-29 with teenagers and kids behind.

Flooding in the area is common and went as back as the 1870’s. The location of the site is at the mouth of the Don River and Keating Channel which makes it prone for sever flooding under extreme storm conditions The severe like rainfall and storm run-off along the Don River watershed could cause water levels to exceed river bed limits and spill into the neighbouring areas.

Flooding caused by Hurricane Hazel in 1954 is an example of river overflow into the neighbouring areas.

A look into the site in 2003 which was a vacant brownfield

Before the construction of the site started there had to be tons of soil added to the site. The Doc River was straighted in 1892, but before that its original course used to meander through the West Don Lands. This meant that the site now rested on top of an underground layer of soggy peat that engineers knew would surely shift and settle under the weight of the “berm”.

Image of the brownfield before the start of the construction

History and Background: Flood Control Strategies:

0100’ 200’

300’1”=100’-0”

N

Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. Corktown Common found in Toronto Canada opened in 2012 is part of an ensemble of projects planned, designed and developed to rehabilitate and redefine the derelict waterfront of Lake Ontario as a new, vital district in downtown Toronto. The location was an empty brown field that would flood because of the Don River. It is part of a coordinated effort to increase the environmental, social and economic value. It increases environmental value by saving approximately 1,246,400 gallons of potable water annually through the capture, treatment, and reuse of stormwater and splash pad runoff for irrigation. The social impact is that it Serves as a neighborhood amenity, with 55% of 22 surveyed users coming from within 0.5 miles of the park. The design is a critical part of a series of local measures designed to control flooding within the regulatory floodplain on the Don River north of Lake Ontario. The design consists of a landform that has a base of 1.7 million cu yds of clay soil and fill material brought in from nearby Toronto developments, and its entire length reaches from Queen Street in the north to the railroad tracks in the south. Corktown Common is built on top of it, adding around 16.5 ft to its height at the park’s highest points.

The 3.6 hectare (8.9 acre) western city side of the park is defined by a dynamic, unfolding topography. Open lawns, knolls (hilltops) and an extensive marsh create distinct rooms that offer varied, flexible spaces for a diverse range of passive and active pursuits.

Program Ideas:

GIOVANNY LOZADA

Context Map:

Design Narrative:

The 24,300-sf constructed marsh is where 140,000 gallons per week of UV-treated splash pad and stormwater runoff is daylighted for flushing and aeration during 7 months of the year. The marsh is controlled by a weir and has an approximate holding capacity of 225,000 gallons, with overflow directed into 2 outlet control structures, which direct it to a sedimentation filtering separator, after which the water is sent to a 150,000-gallon irrigation cistern under the central lawn.

04’ 8’

12’1/4”=1’

Site Boundary

Site Boundary