Finch West LRT (Line 6) is now open to the public!

The new transit line is an exciting development that improves connectivity across northwest Toronto from Keele Street to Humber College. As landscape architects for the 11-kilometer transit line, DTAH led the design of streetscapes throughout the corridor, plazas and surrounds at Finch West Station and Humber College Stop, and landscapes associated with the Ancillary Facilities and the Maintenance and Storage Facility.

The LRT service runs from 6 a.m. – 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 7:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. on Sundays.

Taxiway West District is the first and largest neighbourhood of YZD, the redevelopment of the former Downsview Airport Lands by Northcrest Developments in partnership with Hines. This 40.7- hectare area reimagines the currently industrialized land as a vibrant employment-focused community with a strong emphasis on sustainability, equity, and innovation. DTAH is the Master Landscape Architect for the District and responsible for the public realm vision.

We are pleased to continue our work with the design and implementation of a new park at Garratt Boulevard and Gilley Road, the first in the District. At just under 0.6 hectares, it will deliver high-performance green infrastructure in a compact, urban setting and serve as Toronto’s first “sponge park” which will integrate stormwater management and ecological services with active public uses.

Learn more about the project: The City of Toronto project website

Provide your feedback here: Design Option Survey

Note that the survey will close on December 12, 2025, at 11:45 p.m.

The Carbon Leadership Forum's Embodied Carbon Awards for Ontario celebrates leadership and innovation in reducing embodied carbon across the built environment. The awards spotlight the project teams, designers, builders, and advocates who are driving meaningful progress toward a low-carbon future.

DTAH is pleased to announce that the Landscape Carbon Benchmarking Study, prepared for the City of Toronto, received an award in the Innovation category this year. 

The study analyzed the carbon performance of ten development sites in Toronto, with the goal of evaluating design decisions and their carbon intensities. The document provides helpful frameworks for both practitioners and policymakers in guiding carbon-conscious designs and future policies.

Read the document: Landscape Carbon Benchmarking Study

The City of Guelph Council unanimously approved the revised Urban Design Master Plan (UDMP) for the Baker District this week. The revised plan includes an updated approach to parking, an adjusted massing, and higher affordable and accessible unit targets. Approval of the UDMP is an important step in the development’s path to implementation, as it outlines the vision of the Baker District as a thriving community hub that is physically, socially, and environmentally connected to Guelph’s urban fabric. 

Read more: 

GuelphToday article

The City of Guelph project website

The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway has long served as a vital transportation artery across downtown Toronto. Building on the Gardiner East Environmental Assessment outcomes, DTAH​, along with partners GFT and LEA Consulting, was the successful proponent of the competitive procurement to develop the detailed design for the Gardiner and Lake Shore Boulevard East (LSBE) realignment between Cherry Street and the Don Valley Parkway (DVP). 

DTAH is the lead landscape architect as well as the bridge aesthetics advisor. We will guide the design of the LSBE public realm as well as a new open space — one that will link the Lower Don Trail to the rest of the waterfront and integrate place-keeping and placemaking through engagement with Indigenous communities and the public. Drawing on our deep knowledge of Toronto’s waterfront, the project will create an inviting, resilient, and connected new landscape that responds to the existing and historical context of the site.

Jennie Florence Parker Sports Complex received a Hamilton Urban Design and Architecture Award of Excellence in the Open Spaces, Public Spaces & Green Infrastructure category! 

The biennial Urban Design and Architecture Awards recognize and celebrate design excellence in Hamilton. This year, Jennie Florence Parker Sports Complex, designed and implemented by DTAH, was selected as an exemplary project. The Jury commented that they were “enamored with the project […] the site layout of the park buildings was well-integrated to landscape and produced a very comfortable space between the field house and playing fields.” They were “in full agreement of the benefit and joy brought to the community by the introduction of Jennie Florence Parker Sports Complex.”

Located within Hamilton’s Confederation Park, Jennie Florence Parker Sports Complex offers a variety of active recreational opportunities as well as moments for meditative reprieve. As the landscape architects and architects of the project, DTAH designed the project to enhance and celebrate the existing waterfront landscape, while promoting public participation in a diversity of athletic activities (from cricket to pickleball). 

The project incorporates a new Fieldhouse, Maintenance Garage and renovated Gatehouse, providing public washrooms, changerooms and retail concessions. The buildings frame outdoor spaces including a new drop off plaza, and a large plaza for community gatherings, with low-impact development strategies employed throughout to support ecology, reduce erosion, and improve user comfort and amenity. A natural themed playground inspires exploration and stewardship, elegantly incorporated into the landscape while capturing views to the lake. 

The built environment accounts for 75% of global carbon emissions. While buildings have been the focus of attention to reduce our carbon footprint, urban landscapes are still a new frontier that offers huge potential for climate mitigation and carbon-conscious design. Acknowledging this existing gap, the City of Toronto commissioned DTAH to complete a Landscape Carbon Benchmarking Study and analyze the carbon performance of ten development sites in Toronto. The goals of the study were to quantify upfront emissions and sequestration, identify the most carbon-intensive assemblies, and explore how alternative design decisions can meaningfully shift outcomes. 

DTAH associate partner Colin Berman and Shayna Stott from the City of Toronto will discuss their findings in a webinar as part of CSLA’s landADAPT continuing education program supported by Natural Resources Canada’s Climate Adaptation Program. landADAPT builds capacity in Canadian landscape architects by promoting practical knowledge and tools to design for a changing climate. In this webinar, they will discuss how practitioners and policymakers can use the study findings to guide carbon-conscious design and policy. 

The webinar will take place on October 30, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. EST

Register here: https://www.csla-aapc.ca/events/landscape-carbon-benchmarking-study-playbook-practice-and-policy

Azure’s climate conference, Human/Nature, will return for a second round this year at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto! The conference aims to accelerate climate action by uniting global leaders in architecture and design. By sharing actionable strategies and insights, the conference explores how designs can shape a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable future. 

The first day of the conference offers a workshop, “Where Mobility Meets the Curb.” DTAH Partner Brent Raymond, WXY founding principal Claire Weisz, and PXP - Design intégré founder Vincent Clarizio will discuss city projects that tackle mobility, animate the curb, and promote sustainable commuting. The event will take place on October 29th, from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Learn more about the conference here: https://conference.azuremagazine.com/