King-Spadina Urban Design Guidelines

GBCA was part of a team retained by the City of Toronto to undertake an evaluation of and provide recommendations for the King-Spadina Secondary Plan. Working with The Planning Partnership and Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co., GBCA completed a comprehensive built form inventory of the study area. The analysis of this heritage inventory informed the recommendations and policies in the Urban Design Guidelines now being used by the City of Toronto.

The King Spadina Area, as defined by this project (from Queen Street on the north to Front Street on the south, and from Simcoe and John Streets on the east to Bathurst Street on the west), contains hundreds of buildings of historic importance, along with historic open spaces. The area was initially developed in the 1800s, on the outskirts of the downtown core. After 1900 the area began to prosper as a light industrial district at which time many of the original residential buildings were replaced with mid-rise office and warehouse buildings.

By undertaking a comprehensive heritage inventory the resulting City plan and guidelines recognized and reinforced the unique qualities of the area’s fabric. By identifying the heritage assets, the team was able to develop guidelines that illustrate how the qualities that make the area such an asset to the city should be preserved, reinforced and used to inspire future development.

To read the King-Spadina Secondary Plan, go to: http://www.toronto.ca/planning/king_spadina.htm

For the Urban Design Guidelines, go to: http://www.toronto.ca/planning/urbdesign/pdf/15kingspadina.pdf