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 to analyze the carbon performance of ten development sites in Toronto 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/

The Brampton Urban Design Awards is a biennial awards program that recognizes design excellence and acknowledges significant contributions made by city-builders, urban designers, architects, planners, landscape architects, artists and design students. These awards celebrate innovation and creativity in the delivery of high-quality, sustainable, and inclusive built environments in Brampton. 

This year, Downtown Brampton Public Realm Plan + Streetscape Manual received an Award of Merit in the Visions, Masterplans, and Large Places Design category. 

The jury commented: "The Downtown Brampton Public Realm Plan and Streetscape Manual sets out an ambitious and comprehensive framework to guide the city’s historic core through a period of transformative growth. Its people-first approach places strong emphasis on connectivity, accessibility, and creating vibrant spaces that elevate everyday experiences downtown. The clarity and comprehensiveness of the guidelines provide an important foundation for developers, decision-makers, and the public to envision a cohesive future for Brampton’s public realm. While the greatest impact will be realized through implementation, the document already reflects a bold and forward-thinking vision that positions Downtown Brampton as a cultural, economic, and social hub for decades to come.”  

The Public Realm Plan and Streetscape Manual is a component of the City of Brampton Integrated Downtown Plan (IDP), which aims to unlock Downtown Brampton’s potential as a pivotal economic driver, regional cultural hub, and innovation district. The purpose of the Plan and Manual is to elevate the quality of spaces between buildings – the streets, lanes, squares, plazas, and parks – to advance and support the social life of the city. This people-first design approach maximizes opportunities for people to enjoy life comfortably and safely in the public realm and to make downtown Brampton welcoming and equitable for all. 

Read more about the awards 

The Council for Canadian Urbanism (CanU) hosts an annual forum for thought leaders and designers to congregate and discuss urban challenges specific to Canada. This year’s event will take place in Toronto. DTAH is proud to both sponsor and participate in the programming to support CanU’s advocacy of sustainable, livable, and resilient cities. Partners Brent Raymond and James Roche will contribute to the following events:

Day 1: Thursday, October 16th 11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. 
Leading with Landscape: Public Spaces as Catalyst for Urban Renewal

DTAH Partner Brent Raymond will join a panel with Chris Glaisek (Chief Planning and Design Officer, Waterfront Toronto), Emily Mueller De Celis (Partner, MVVA), and Guillaume Paradis (Partner, CCxA) to discuss how landscape architecture has set the framework for a comprehensive program of urban renewal and redefined what we should expect of 21st century urbanism. Jean Trottier (Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Manitoba) will moderate the conversation. 

Day 2: Friday, October 17th 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
TO's Waterfront Parks and Public Realm

DTAH Partner James Roche and Waterfront Toronto will lead a walk through some of Toronto’s most iconic waterfront parks, promenades, and streetscape, including the Water’s Edge Promenade, Wavedecks, and Queens Quay, designed by West 8 + DTAH (in joint venture). 

Learn more: Toronto Forum 2025 Program | CanU

Located adjacent to the French River Provincial Park, the new Highway 69 crossing improves highway safety by separating north and southbound traffic while preserving views of the picturesque heritage landscape. The Ministry of Transportation sought an iconic bridge for the new crossing, in recognition of the site’s natural beauty. It is one of only a few bridges in Ontario to use inclined legs fabricated in weathering steel, creating an elegant, modern and striking visual effect over the river that does not compete with the historic above-deck structures close by.

WSP led the engineering detailed design, with DTAH responsible for architectural and aesthetic aspects of the design.

The Water’s Edge Promenade at the East Bayfront Community Recreation Centre will be open to the public with the grand opening of the community centre this Saturday, September 20th!

This newest segment of the Water’s Edge Promenade completes the vision of a continuous lakeside open space along the East Bayfront, since the first section to the west opened in 2010. The extension preserves the promenade’s distinctive double row of trees, custom seating, lighting, and signature granite mosaic paving, while featuring a more naturalized approach with lush open planters interspersed with glacial erratics stones, including a large granite boulder excavated during construction. The planting design incorporates innovative biochar application to improve the soil quality and carbon sequestration of the site. 

This section is a pilot installation of the updated Waters Edge Promenade design approach, developed in collaboration with West 8, Indigenous design integration with MinoKamik Collective and planting design by Phyto Studio, to be further applied in new sections of the waters edge across Parliament Slip.

St. Andrew’s Playground Park received a Special Jury Award for Integrated Approach from the 2025 Toronto Urban Design Awards! Waterworks, designed by Diamond Schmitt, was a co-recipient of the award. 

Nestled in Toronto’s dense and lively Fashion District, St. Andrew’s Playground Park provides a much-needed green space that serves the social and recreational needs of the growing community. The park was designated in 1908 as Toronto’s first playground and has seen remarkable growth in its surroundings, with recent adjacent developments including the mixed-use Waterworks Building food hall, residence, and YMCA; Ace Hotel; The Well; and King Toronto Residences. The revitalized design creates a dynamic community space with new connections and flexible outdoor spaces that accommodate day-to-day uses, as well as larger social and cultural gatherings. 

The jury commented: “St. Andrew’s Playground Park is small but mighty; the layout of the park contributes positively at the civic scale with informal desire lines that traverse the open space, creating intentional moments to pause, connection and play.” 

Read the full jury report here