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The Toronto Tamil Community Centre is moving closer to reality with a new resubmission featuring an all-new design. Designed by gh3 and Lemay for the Tamil Community Centre Board of Directors, the proposal envisions a facility in Scarborough’s Morningside Heights neighbourhood serving the GTA’s Tamil community, the largest Tamil diaspora outside of Asia. The centre will also be available to other marginalized groups in northeast Toronto.
Planning has been underway for nearly a decade, beginning with efforts by community leaders to secure a site and funding. In 2020 and 2021, Toronto City Council authorized a long-term lease of vacant City-owned land at 311 Staines Road, and by mid-2021, the project secured over $35 million in combined federal, provincial, and community funding. The 2.68-hectare site backs onto the Rouge River ravine and Rouge National Urban Park, while the surrounding area is primarily low-rise residential.
Escalating construction costs have prompted a re-evaluation of earlier designs. Accordingly, Bousfields has resubmitted Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to the City of Toronto on behalf of the developer. The original 2021 concept by AK A featured a curving, copper-clad volume resembling a ship’s hull, symbolizing Tamil migration and designed to hover over a transparent, glazed base. A 2024 redesign shifted toward a grounded, linear massing with triangular cutouts at grade.
The new design by gh3 and Lemay builds on this approach, with a wedged floor-plate clad in a patterned, light-toned precast facade, with curved arch-like forms replacing the earlier angular cutouts above the ground-floor glazing.
The two-storey building would stand 15.88m, organized around a central courtyard with three extending wings; a large front wing facing Staines Road and two eastward wings splitting to the north and south. With a total Gross Floor Area of 4,578m² the building would have a Floor Space Index of 0.17 on the 26,828m² site. An outdoor recreation field and trails network would activate the eastern side adjacent to Rouge National Urban Park.
The gymnasium and indoor walking track would occupy the front wing, while the south wing would house a cultural library, meeting rooms, and multi-purpose spaces. The north wing would initially accommodate a dance studio, with an auditorium added in a second phase as funding allows. Two elevators would service the building.
Parking would be provided entirely at grade, beginning with 58 spaces in the first phase and expanding to a total of 114 spaces after the second phase, eventually book-ending the site to the north and south. Bicycle parking would be accommodated with 40 spaces, split between 30 long-term stalls and 10 short-term stalls located near the main plaza.
Public realm plans include a landscaped forecourt along Staines Road, with direct access to a trail encircling the site. To the rear would be a fenced playground and soccer field.
The site is served by several TTC surface routes along Staines Road that ply Steeles and Finch avenues, and Neilson Road with connections to Line 1 and Line 2. Cycling connections include a nearby multi-use trail along Morningside Avenue and on-street bike lanes along Finch Avenue East. Looking ahead, the area is set for improved transit through the Scarborough Subway Extension to McCowan at Sheppard, and a possible Sheppard Line 4 Subway Extension in the future.
Development activity around the site includes the Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Campus to the southeast. To the west, multiple single-storey commercial buildings are proposed in industrial areas, while more substantial growth is occurring to the south with a 6-storey residential building planned at 1370 Neilson Road and the 9-storey 25 Sewells Road under construction. The Malvern Town Centre Redevelopment is planned at 18 towers ranging from 8 to 43 storeys.
The project is supported by over $14.3 million in federal funding and $11.9 million in provincial funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, with the City of Toronto contributing land valued at approximately $25 million; the Tamil Community Centre Board is raising an additional $9.6 million through community fundraising. The Board anticipates planning approvals in 2025 and a construction start in 2026.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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| Related Companies: | Arcadis, Bousfields, gh3, Lemay, Vortex Fire Consulting Inc. |
