The administrative and outreach headquarters of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto has been reinvigorated, enabling the Diocese to embark on a third century of spiritual and pastoral care on Toronto’s downtown lower east side. Heritage and contemporary architectural elements are organically integrated on a historically significant urban site, through a modern expression of the principles of built form and spatial organization that informed the earlier Gothic Revival heritage structure. The paved and landscaped walkway between the Centre and the north apse of the Cathedral links the two structures and transforms shabby ‘back of house’ areas into a contemplative open space that evokes the medieval cloister. The landscape design incorporates alternating bands of limestone paving and greenery, which mark the original proposed footprint of the Cathedral and commemorate the early Toronto residents of whose unmarked graves lie beneath the pathway. The project provides a template for the authentic integration of new and heritage architecture and the renewal of a faded urban site.
