Toronto U of T: Landscape of Landmark Quality | ?m | 1s | U of T | MVVA

[Northern Light]

Photos taken August 20th, 2021:

Looking south from Harbord:

Looking North, towards Harbord:

I note with interest an attempt at a pseudo-natural garden up against University College:

 

[SkyCloudJC]

When is the whole project (at least the King College Circle) expected to complete? Are we talking about 2022/2023 or many years from now? My cousin will graduate next year, wondering where the convacation will take place.

 

[Northern Light]

When is the whole project (at least the King College Circle) expected to complete? Are we talking about 2022/2023 or many years from now? My cousin will graduate next year, wondering where the convacation will take place.

The current timeline for the project is for it to wrap in April 2023.

 

[interchange42]

When is the whole project (at least the King College Circle) expected to complete? Are we talking about 2022/2023 or many years from now? My cousin will graduate next year, wondering where the convacation will take place.

Get your cousin to flunk a few courses/take incompletes, have to take another year!

42

 

[AlbertC]

Commentary from this U of T article:

While you were away… U of T was busy building for the future

While many University of Toronto students, staff, faculty and librarians studied, taught and worked from home over the past year, U of T’s three campuses remained a hub of activity as construction forged ahead on several transformational projects. At St.

www.utoronto.ca

A key element connected to the Landmark project – the drilling of 374 geothermal boreholes – was completed in July. Drilled some 240 metres below the planned underground parking garage at Front Campus, the shafts will be used to store surplus heat generated by mechanical systems in the summer for use in the winter.

Once completed, the underground geoexchange field will help reduce U of T’s greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 15,000 metric tons per year – a key component of the university’s Low Carbon Action Plan.

The Landmark project also involves the creation of an Indigenous space that is being developed following extensive consultations with Indigenous U of T community members, Elders and nations.

Around 700 truckloads of debris have already been removed for excavation work for the underground parking garage. More than 2,200 truckloads of soil have been removed in all as part of landscaping, excavation and related work around King’s College Circle, where shoring rigs have finished installing over 150 cylinder piles of the 203 that will be required.

“We will look to minimize impacts and disruption to students, faculty and staff on the heritage core of campus as work continues,” Mabury said. “All buildings will remain accessible to everyone, and all regular servicing of buildings will be maintained, as will connections to emergency vehicles.”

To the north of King’s College Circle, Mabury said students can get “a little appetizer” of the project’s vision for that section of campus in the form of newly laid granite walkways from the Sir Daniel Wilson Residence up to Hoskin Avenue and down Tower Road.

“They’ll be able to get a good sense of what it’s going to be like when it’s finished,” he said.

Mabury added that the renovation of University College – including a refurbished quad and repatriation of the library and student service functions to the front of the college building – is expected to be completed later this fall.

 

[Rascacielo]

Today. Repaved walkway now open all the way to Hoskins, just in time for back to school.

 

[Northern Light]

Photos taken Sept 18th, 2021.

A note here, accessing front campus is now the art of running a maze! .....

Now some pics and notes......

As noted above the path along the west side of Back Campus is open:

The Tower Road side.......well.............not exactly.........

You can indeed beginning walking south on this section.........however, it more or less dead ends at the rear of Hart House, there is no access through to front campus:

Of course......if you're an alum.......you may remember there is seldom used narrow path at the rear of Hart house out to Queen's Park Crescent..........which I used!

Traffic lights coming where students cross from Queen's Park to Hart House Circle............:

Psst, can't get into campus that way either at the moment! You have to go south to the service lane on the south side of the Canadian Gallery, walk in that way.....

But we'll skip over that for a single pic of Hart House Park.......hard to get a good shot, it's very cut off on all sides, and the site was crawling w/workers this morning...

Sidewalk being removed in front of Med.Sci:

Front Campus/Parking/GeoTherm.. etc:

Landscaping going in on the path that runs through Med Sci to Queen's Park.....*note, this path is not open for through-walking yet.....you'll see why....

About that passage to Queen's Park Circle:

The view from the other side:

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

Are they doing anything with that pigeon roosting cube wall at the same Med Sci pass there? It's one of my favourite parts of that building. Although I suspect less so with faculty and staff due to the as for mentioned vermin with wings crapping up the said wall. So I'm concerned they may just nuke it with the current renovations.

 

[Student99]

Photos taken Sept 18th, 2021.

A note here, accessing front campus is now the art of running a maze! .....

Now some pics and notes......

Were you carrying lots of bags and a fancy-looking camera?

Are they doing anything with that pigeon roosting cube wall at the same Med Sci pass there? It's one of my favourite parts of that building. Although I suspect less so with faculty and staff due to the as for mentioned vermin with wings crapping up the said wall. So I'm concerned they may just nuke it with the current renovations.

They kept it! Doesn't look all that dirty at the moment. One thing I wish they did around this building would be to have some signage with the sculptures.... who designed it, year, what they call it... maybe even a note about the inspirations or what they were trying to convey through the art.

 

[Northern Light]

Were you carrying lots of bags and a fancy-looking camera?

I was certainly carrying a camera........and I did have 2 bags............

****

I swear, in the last two weeks, everyone at UT swears they're seeing me, LOL..........but no one ever says 'hi'........

 

[Northern Light]

Just a few today, taken Oct 27th, mostly of the principle site on Front Campus, and some from the path through Med. Sci:

Planting in here is complete now (but you still can't access Queen's Park Crescent from here)

Bonus Shot: (not park of this project, but very much part of U of T's public realm) At some point in 2020, Victoria College began replacing their old pedestrian lights throughout campus. Which were, in my opinion, always ugly as @#$#

This is what the new one's look like.......I'm not totally sold frankly, but they are an improvement:

This is from Streetview, in October 2020, and manages to show one of the new fixtures, beside one of the old ones:

The previous set, as you can see were ahistorical, without any particular redemption and were the most ghastly shade of brown.......

The new set are meant to look vaguely historical, they're LED, and they come in a crisp, smart black. But the style of fixture is self-evidently not heritage. I dunno, to me if you want
the heritage look, maybe something a bit more authentic.....

 

[condovo]

I'm on the fence about both fixtures, old and new.

 

[Benito]

Today.

 

[Northern Light]

Photos taken January 16th, 2022:

Sometime after my last photos the U of T did get some additional plants in along the north end/back campus area.

Below is the space between the back campus fields and the Hoskin Ave. Fence.

They're clearly going for a more naturalized landscape replacing the sod over time. The red twigged shrubs are Red Osier Dogwood, a native which adds seasonal interest in this time of year w/its brightly coloured stems.

They're pretty durable and should do fine, though less well where really shaded. Though, if I was being picky, they're really a wetland edge species. But it's all good!

Most of the interlocking pavers are now in place on Tower Road running alongside the back campus, Wycliffe and Hart House.

Construction of the new stands and associated landscape features continues:

More new landscaping; beside Hart House. I didn't take a close look, but I'm inclined to think the Birch are not native. Native Birch rarely grow as multi-stemmed clumps, they tend to be much more upright.

Most commonly this multi-clump form grown by local nurseries is the European Birch, but it may be any number of other species. River Birch from well south of us in the U.S. is common, but sometimes
you do see the natives grown this way; with some help from the nursery. Should it be non-native, I'm ok w/that insofar as I have yet to see a non-native Birch behave invasively.

Hart House Circle's main path is well on its way with the new pavers as well. Rather unfortunate in my mind is that it's as wide as a road.

Close up of the new pavers:

As you can see, when looking north from the southern extent of Hart House Circle, the main path's re-do is some distance away; though ample supplies are on hand:

Ya never know where 'Bob' will leave his stuff:

Now for the Front Campus Pit: Make note of pillars rising which will support the parking level roof/new field:

Now from the west:

****

Closing note, the access to Queen's Park via Med. Sci still isn't open.

I'd love to know what was detailed in the work, other than the obvious stair reconstruction. I won't be too mean, on account of having not seen the plans........... I will say, over six months to deliver fewer than a dozen steps seems on the long side.

 

[daniel_kryz]

Nice pavers! I'm eager to see what it'll look like in spring!