CONNECTING WITH NATURE
Developers are finding new ways to link residents with the outdoors despite the shadow cast by social distancing
Tending a rose garden and harvesting kale in a greenhouse aren’t typically how condo residents pass the time from spring to fall. It’s usually agreed the major sacrifice vertical dwellers make is an easy connection to nature, forgoing front yards and back gardens in favour of restaurant proximity, transit access and a life unburdened by grass seeding and leaf raking. But that’s starting to change. In some of the city’s most desirable new builds, developers have found ways to connect residents to the land.
Take the massive new mixed-use development project in Mississauga called Lakeview Village, currently in the planning process. The site sits on 177 acres that used to be home to the Lakeview Generating Station, a coal plant that cut off Mississauga residents from the waterfront. Argo Development Corporation is part of a team called Lakeview Community Partners that is reimagining the space, which by 2024 will include 8,000 residential units spread among a mix of town homes, mid-rise buildings and taller towers. Seventy- five per cent of the units will be in buildings between five and 15 storeys high.
According to Argo director of development Brian Sutherland, the project’s main goal is to find ways to reconnect the community to the waterfront. “People have been cut off from nature here for decades,” he says. “The site’s utilitarian and polluting history gives us a unique opportunity to reclaim the space.”
The team is currently working with other local conservation areas to build 64 acres of protected wetlands at the foot of the new development, to be named the Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area, after the late Mississauga councillor and waterfront revitalization advocate. To build it, they’ll fill in 64 acres of Lake Ontario to create the necessary conditions for a wildlife sanctuary to thrive; Argo has donated 200,000 tonnes of concrete to help construct the foundation. They also plan to reroute Serson Creek, which currently runs under a nearby water treatment plant; its new path will cut through the Lakeview Community and flow down to the conservation area, bringing a calming water element to the community and, according to a report by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, more aquatic organisms to the creek, which are a food source for fish.
Lakeview Community Partners have also planned for 50 acres of parks and open space in the development. Residents will be able to step outside their doors and meander along tree- lined trails down to the new waterfront conservation area. An existing pier from the site’s commercial days will allow them to walk nearly a kilometre out over the water, giving visitors the serene feeling of floating. “The park will be the jewel of the development,” Sutherland says. In place of narrow sidewalks, the design will incorporate wide paths for an expansive sense of space, and appropriate social distancing, if it’s still needed.
Though construction has yet to start, naturalization efforts have begun. Last year, Lakeview Community Partners planted a million sunflower seeds where the coal- burning generator used to run. It’s part of a process called phytoremediation, which boosts soil optimization and supports native restoration. When they bloomed, the sunflowers attracted birds, bees and butterflies. Community support for the project has been overwhelming, Sutherland says. “There’s something special about being able to experience nature and Lake Ontario from your condo, and I think it’s resonating with people of all ages and lifestyles.”
A number of studies over the years have shown the impact that regular immersion in nature has on mental health and well- being. In 2019, the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter in the U. K. studied 20,000 people and found that those who spent two hours per week in green spaces were far more likely to report good health and psychological well- being than those who didn’t. Exposure to nature was proven especially effective as an antidote to stress. Since the onset of COVID-19 restrictions, the allure of that antidote, via accessible green space, seems all the more powerful.
While t he expansive Lakeview plot provides a big hit of nature, micro- gardens can do the trick too. In the inner city, at the corner of Queen and Dovercourt, Windmill Developments and Curated Properties has almost completed construction on The Plant, a 10- storey condo project with occupancy slated for the fall, designed as a refuge for greenthumbed urbanites.
Small- scale sustainable agriculture is the cornerstone of the project, according to Windmill partner Alex Spiegel. “Food is a great way to build community and instill a strong culture in the building,” he says. “It also helps with residents’ health and well-being. When people grow food, they feel better about themselves.”
That theme has been integrated throughout the building. All balconies are oversized and wedge- shaped, to allow for ample planting space and to ensure sunlight reaches the decks below. The suites were designed to be wide and shallow instead of long, narrow so that daylight will flood into the interior, where indoor flora can flourish, too.
The Plant’s main amenities area revolves around a community kitchen with a south- facing wall of windows that acts like a greenhouse, giving growers a head start on the season. Outside, there’s a terrace for planters and small garden plots, where residents can pitch in on projects and find inspiration for their private balconies.
According to Spiegel, the project was also designed to foster a sense of community in the building. “When you run into a neighbour in the hallway, you can ask them how their tomatoes are doing. It’s something to talk about,” he says. Not all residents will have the necessary skills from the start, so a gardening coach has been hired to run seminars and be available for growing-related queries.
The six- storey Daniels Logan building in Leslieville, which was recently completed and is currently sold out, adopted a similar focus. The rooftop was transformed into a natural oasis: a green roof is covered in native plants, which surrounds a terrace with six communal garden plots, where residents can grow herbs, fruits, vegetables and flowers. The building also offers urban gardening workshops and seminars so residents make the best use of the natural amenities.
Spiegel believes connecting with nature is more vital now than it’s ever been, especially given the challenges COVID-19 has brought with it. “[ It’s about] creating self- sustaining sources of fresh, healthy food,” he says. But “it’s also just nice when you’re stuck at home to be able to putter around the garden.”