Although once positioned as a connector between Toronto’s Yonge and Bay streets, the 1974 Cumberland Terrace is now a relic that impedes the public infrastructure necessary to create both a sense of place and multi-scale urban elements to reconnect the Yorkville fabric here.

Key to our vision is a public park and new pedestrian laneways defined by gauzy ceilings of light to create an evocative experience through which pedestrians see the tall towers above, including new residential towers that anchor the ends of the block.

Now named Cumberland Square, GPA’s masterplan for Cumberland Terrace utilizes robust retail programming whose architectural presence assertively weaves the Bloor Street scale north, now along a slower more robust public pedestrian realm.

Critical to this project is a thoughtful structural approach to span and isolate the existing subway below grade and to ultimately unlock the possibilities of the new public square at grade. In turn, the square reinvigorates the surrounding Victorian remnants and draws them into focus while knitting in dynamic new elements that skillfully scales the experience for pedestrians.