Please join us for a presentation on Limberlost Place, a project under construction for Toronto’s George Brown College, poised to be one of the first assembly occupancy, tall, exposed mass timber, net-zero carbon emissions buildings in the world. Project lead Carol Phillips will discuss the research and innovation that went into winning the international design competition, and the significant challenges associated with navigating the regulatory and approvals processes thereafter. Carol will discuss the project’s structural design testing and code approvals, funded by both the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Natural Resources Canada, in addition to the ambitious sustainability targets set forth by Waterfront Toronto and the City’s Planning and Development Dept. Already the recipient of 8 awards for innovation and design excellence, Limberlost Place is set to open new doors for mass timber construction in Canada.
Carol Phillips is a Partner at Moriyama Teshima Architects (MTA) and a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. Her portfolio includes MTA’s most ambitious, low-carbon, mass timber, LEED Platinum, and net-zero targeted projects, including Limberlost Place (a joint venture with Acton Ostry Architects) for George Brown College, and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation Multi-Tenant Commercial Building.
Please note the LOCATION for this Urban Forum Event
Sheri Blake, Associate Professor, Department of City Planning, University of Manitoba
Larry Spencer, MCIP, RPP
Bob Webster, OAA, FRAIC
What happens when an architect, planner or landscape architect decides to open the “black box” of their profession’s knowledge base to public scrutiny, and to use their skills to actively engage people in the design process? What happens when those that become involved have a strong emotional attachment to the area that is the subject of the professional’s interest?
This Urban Forum session raised a timely and provocative discussion of community planning strategies achieved by divesting expert practice. The discussion was sparked by a documentary made by Dr. Sheri Blake. The documentary focused on the ‘how-to’ and ‘so what’ of community participatory design by outlining Detroit Collaborative Design Center’s (DCDC) architectural workshop series and resulting award-winning projects. It demonstrated the skills a designer requires for effective participatory community design and highlights the knowledge sharing toward mutual transformation that could occur between designers and stakeholders. It focused on the skills necessary to facilitate design. It also discussed the culture of collaboration that occurs between design and other professionals in support of the non-profit community based development organization sector.
