The Toronto 2015 Pan American Athletes' Village occupies an 80-acre (32 hectares) site adjacent to the Don River and is considered a pivotal redevelopment of formerly industrial lands. Using the 2015 Pan American Games as the impetus, the Village initially housed 8,500 athletes and team officials, eventually becoming a vibrant mixed-use community in the West Don Lands adjacent to the Distillery District. Since 2015, notable additions include several mixed-use developments, the award-winning River City condominiums and Corktown Common—a precedent-setting urban park renowned for its programmatic and ecological restorative features. SvN conducted initial urban planning strategies leading to the 2015 Pan American Games. We redeveloped the West Don Lands Precinct Plan that later evolved into the Master Plan for the Village, a plan eventually comprising eight blocks of mixed-use residential housing, including market and affordable housing types. The critically acclaimed YMCA and George Brown College occupy one of these blocks, and the Front Street Esplanade provides the heart of this new neighbourhood shaped by dynamic retail. cafés and taller buildings. Connections and views to Don River Park define the east-west streets that terminate in the park, with townhouses lining the neighbourhood-scale north-south streets.

SvN played a pivotal role in shaping the long-term legacy of the Village. During the 2015 Games, open parks and festival spaces successfully defined this new urban destination while establishing the neighbourhood character for future housing blocks. The organization of individual buildings, flexible units and adaptable spaces facilitated the transition from games-mode amenities to long-term townhouses and residential amenity spaces.

Aerial Photography by Diego Zabala