PROJECT 05

ETOBICOKE URBAN GROW HUB

SIZE: 20,000 SQ. FT.

This building aims to promote the alternative economy: to foster community cohesion and enriched cultural programming. 

While this space primarily offers a venue for sustainable local commerce, it also offers the possibility of performance, interactive making and learning. The building itself provides an educational experience, exposing visitors to environmentally friendly materials and building techniques. The organic shape of the building visually reinforces the spirit of this market: the value placed on natural products, human interaction and concern for the planet. Structurally, as a mass timber frame, the inherent strength and beauty of wood expresses the power of nature and commands respect.  

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DESIGN  GOALS

One of the building’s design goals was to be open, bright, and inclusive.

• The south-facing curved curtain wall makes a sweeping glazed gesture of embrace, while the photovoltaic glass panels attract the sun’s energy for the building’s electrical needs.  

• The interior design is centered around flexibility and openness to accommodate a variety of programming that responds to evolving community needs.

• The circular arrangement of the indoor market stalls promotes ease of visitor flow, while the epicenter serves as a social hub.  During regular market activities it provides cafeteria space but can be transformed into an art exhibition, film viewing or conference area. This means the building is sustainable, both in terms of its structural design and the business model. 

Another design goal was to honor transparency, allowing visitors to see the indoor and outdoor market activities simultaneously, while eliminating visual barriers between the interior levels so that buying, socializing and learning are all integrated.

• The guiding metaphor of the building is to reveal the inextricable connection between human (indoor) and natural (outdoor) worlds, breaking down binaries that needlessly separate urban from rural and notions of commercial prosperity and environmental harmony.