2INTERSECTION

& Oakwood-Vaughan Masterplan

How can we challenge typical housing typologies in response to an increasing housing crisis amidst rapid development and gentrification of urban neighbourhoods?

Project Type: Residential Mixed-use, Masterplan

Completed: Winter 2021, 3rd Year Design Studio

Location: Toronto, ON

Programs Used: Rhino 6, Lumion, Adobe Suite

In collaboration with Justina Yang and Mary Ma

With the introduction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, the Eglinton and Oakwood-Vaughan neighborhood currently lacks the services, affordable housing, and public amenities to accommodate the expected growth in the next 2 years.

In response, Intersection aims to design spaces that encourage the intersection of tenancies that represent the diverse demographic of the area. By filling in the blanks for missing services and making them accessible to all, designing new missing amenities to help nurture and support underrepresented people groups, and creating new points of convergence, the project seeks to create a selfsustaining network made up of the community members themselves on the Eglinton-Dufferin Intersection, allowing them the right to remain, transition, and age in place.

By integrating various public and shared spaces throughout the site, as well as programs catered to the needs of the residents while simultaneously providing the opportunity to train and nurture future generations, this urban design proposal challenges current typologies of separating seniors and other tenancies from one another, demonstrating how the reintegration of these groups can invigorate the community and its culture as a whole.

*All line drawings, graphics, visualizations were produced individually unless stated otherwise. I was responsible for producing the 3D model for the site and the high-rise building.

Additional quality-of-life strategies on the pedestrian level are incorporated into the overall urban site to increase walkability and pedestrian safety and to support, help preserve, and grow the vivacious blend of cultures present on the historic Eglington Street, also recognized as the cultural hub Little Jamaica. Street parking is moved underground and replaced with public spaces. Bikes and public transit are then encouraged through the implementation of bike lanes. Green buffer barriers are implemented on the street for an additional level of safety for pedestrians. Finally, residents of pre-existing residential and commercial structures are given the right to remain, while additions are proposed to improve the quality of life for these residents that will be directly impacted by the new proposed developments along Eglinton.

Garden Up

Proposal for 1855 Eglington Ave.

The high-rise caters towards the mixed tenancies of supportive housing, youth transitional housing, as well as affordable housing, with the intention of promoting the reintegration of often separated groups back into the community. The network of interconnected kitchen, dining and vertical gardening spaces allow for a communal sense of living, promotes the sharing skills and experiences, while having access to a variety of support systems at close proximity, creating a micro urban village within the building.

Longitudinal Section Perspective