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In the first week of May, a Site Plan Application (SPA) was submitted to the City of Toronto's planning department for the redevelopment of a new North York Women's Shelter (NYWS) facility, to be located at 940 Sheppard Avenue West. Designed by LGA Architectural Partners, the new 3-storey crisis care centre facility would replace the existing 1984-built shelter, in an effort to better serve the organization and the women and children that use the facility.
Currently, the shelter facility provides 30 beds, and cannot continue to meet their targeted service goals and requirements in the existing facility. The new NYWS aims to address numerous issues that currently face the program, including meeting and exceeding the service level expectations; changes in program and service delivery requirements; escalating program and service delivery costs that are associated with off-site administration; and finally a lack of programming space.
The new 3-storey shelter (12m/40 ft) would be clad in brick, with a total gross floor area of 2,415 m², or just shy of 26,000 ft² including one level below grade. Approximately 14,700 ft² of landscaped open space will be provided, while over 7,000 ft² of paved surface space will be included.
The basement level will have a mix of program space, a gym, in addition to storage and mechanical rooms. The ground floor will be highlighted by a welcome centre at the entrance, more program rooms, offices, and a large dining hall, equipped with a kitchen and food storage, perched in the northern end of the building's footprint. The second level will comprise nine bedrooms of differing sizes, with a large program room that reaches the third level, laundry room, and a separate lounge for children and women. On the third and final level, eight bedrooms line the eastern wing of the building, with more lounges, laundry, and of course the second level of the program room.
We will keep you up to date as the SPA circulates through the planning department. Additional information and renderings can be found in the project's dataBase, linked below. Want to share your thoughts on this project? Feel free to write a comment using the space provided below, or join in the ongoing discussion in the associated Forum thread.
