Faculty of Design

Environmental Design

Klara Stefani Javier

Stormwater in the Flow

With the increase of urban flooding in Toronto’s Don Valley Parkway (DVP) area, flood mitigation systems require a shift from reactive infrastructure to collection systems that are responsive to stormwater. When Evergreen Brick Works closed because of a flood in July of 2024, it became disadvantageous towards their local community, which is one of their core values. The TD Future Cities Centre, the easternmost building of the Brick Works, is home to the old firing kilns and Evergreen currently uses it occasionally as an event space. This project is guided by the concepts: transform, flow, and ripple. Its design proposes transforming the Don River High Railway Bridge, an abandoned trestle, to an elevated water collection system containing water tanks that supply the reflecting pool east of the building. North of the building sits a water treatment gallery where stormwater is collected, stored, and treated in several tanks; this space takes advantage of the landscape’s natural slope and is accessible through one of the park’s walking paths. Once treated, water is then fueled through retention ponds to supply the installation pools inside the building. These pools showcase different educational performances, such as the speed of a building flood and the rise of water levels, which cause the terrace stairs to flood periodically according to a schedule. Rather than concealing this collection process, water is revealed in this project– recognizing it as an active element of life. Visitors are taken across the span of the building through a series of terraces, mimicking the directional flow of water, to learn about the entire process of collecting stormwater which leads them back to the entrance, creating this seamless, flow-like navigation experience. Programs such as the ceramic studio use the treated water that the hub provides, referencing back to the site’s former requirement to flood for clay-water accumulation; it is through the art of ceramics that “gives back” to Evergreen’s community and extends the narrative beyond flooding and stormwater management, to community engagement and fulfillment. The presence and absence of stormwater have the ability to transform this space from a stormwater collection hub to an experiential intervention– taking visitors on a storytelling experience of live flooding.

“This project introduces a transformative cultural hub that promotes water stewardship education through live demonstration of stormwater management, while paying homage to Evergreen’s brick-making heritage through ceramics. Ultimately, this project is meant to create a positive ripple to the rest of Toronto’s flood management systems in totality. ”