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.