A City Within a City, Envisioning A New Future
A re-envisioned Woodbine knits together a new urban street grid with a large green corridor connection to celebrate and emphasize the heart of the site. All roads lead to the track.
At the scale of downtown Toronto, the 684 acres of the Woodbine site has an incredible potential for a large-scale, city-building initiative.
A series of guiding principles help set the direction for the design of the site, combining into a framework that defines a new heart for Toronto.
A series of new districts surround and embrace the track while reinforcing a new open space connection between Humber River and Mimico Creek.
Woodbine’s open space framework is anchored by a large green corridor, connecting the Humber River Valley to Mimico Creek, the racing surfaces and infield, Woodbine’s Central Park, and the Urban Promenades that structure the built environment.
The Woodbine Master Plan celebrates the track and thus the horse as the heart of the site from which a modified grid radiates to structure a series of districts around the track.
The urban village just north of the track is the beating pulse of Woodbine’s heart, anchored by Woodbine Square and a highly programmed mixed-use urban environment.
Woodbine Square is a thriving, interactive and year-round celebration plaza engaging and interacting with horse racing culture as well as numerous weekly and seasonal events and festivities.
On race day, the square will offer a staging ground to showcase world-class horsemen and horses to the public and encourage interaction via a redesigned walking ring and horse parade path within a new mixed-use entertainment district.
Post-race or on other days throughout the year, Woodbine Square becomes a venue for concerts, telecasts or local and regional celebrations.
The former standardbred paddock has been converted into the Woodbine Food Hall, anchoring a dynamic district focused on family enjoyment, public events, and race day fun.
The gaming district anchors the northeast corner of the site, extending the gaming programming as well as bringing nightlife, entertainment, hotel, conference and convention center uses to the site.
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}
A re-envisioned Woodbine knits together a new urban street grid with a large green corridor connection to celebrate and emphasize the heart of the site. All roads lead to the track.
At the scale of downtown Toronto, the 684 acres of the Woodbine site has an incredible potential for a large-scale, city-building initiative.
A series of guiding principles help set the direction for the design of the site, combining into a framework that defines a new heart for Toronto.
A series of new districts surround and embrace the track while reinforcing a new open space connection between Humber River and Mimico Creek.
Woodbine’s open space framework is anchored by a large green corridor, connecting the Humber River Valley to Mimico Creek, the racing surfaces and infield, Woodbine’s Central Park, and the Urban Promenades that structure the built environment.
The Woodbine Master Plan celebrates the track and thus the horse as the heart of the site from which a modified grid radiates to structure a series of districts around the track.
The urban village just north of the track is the beating pulse of Woodbine’s heart, anchored by Woodbine Square and a highly programmed mixed-use urban environment.
Woodbine Square is a thriving, interactive and year-round celebration plaza engaging and interacting with horse racing culture as well as numerous weekly and seasonal events and festivities.
On race day, the square will offer a staging ground to showcase world-class horsemen and horses to the public and encourage interaction via a redesigned walking ring and horse parade path within a new mixed-use entertainment district.
Post-race or on other days throughout the year, Woodbine Square becomes a venue for concerts, telecasts or local and regional celebrations.
The former standardbred paddock has been converted into the Woodbine Food Hall, anchoring a dynamic district focused on family enjoyment, public events, and race day fun.
The gaming district anchors the northeast corner of the site, extending the gaming programming as well as bringing nightlife, entertainment, hotel, conference and convention center uses to the site.
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}

DETAILS

LocationToronto, Ontario, Canada
ClientLive Work Learn Play
SERVICE: ,
Size683 acres

The Woodbine Racetrack site envisions a new future: A City within a City – an exhilarating place to live, work, study and recreate.

The project transforms the largest undeveloped tract within Toronto into an iconic and dynamic, fully integrated, transit-oriented mixed-use district. Capitalizing on the racetrack’s legacy and the site’s natural, cultural, and locational assets, the project is designed to become a new heart in Toronto.

The master plan includes a diversity of open spaces throughout to provide relief and respite. These spaces are anchored by the green corridor, connecting the Humber River Valley to Mimico Creek, the racing surfaces and infield, Woodbine’s Central Park, and the Urban Promenades that structure the built environment. Anchoring the western portion of the site is the green corridor. Due to the drainage basin divide that occurs in the NW corner of the site, the green corridor is divided into two portions. The northern portion drains to the Humber River and the southern portion drains to Mimico Creek with the divide being New Providence St. The water in the green corridor is set up as a series of ponds, to traverse the topography and to ensure a high aesthetic quality of the water. The northern ponds have the potential to be part of a staged quality control facility before outletting to the Humber River. The other ponds can be incorporated into the storm water management system as aesthetic ponds.

Related Projects


Envision Willowick

The Cities of Garden Grove and Santa Ana are developing a “vision” for redevelopment of the Willowick Golf Course site. This process explored conceptual land use options that are formed by community and stakeholder collaboration and input. The Visioning is intended to be used to guide the preparation of development plans for Willowick. The visionin

Great Park

One of the world’s largest municipal parks, the 1,300-acre Great Park in Irvine, California, is currently under construction with phased openings continuing through 2029. The conceptual framework encompasses redesign and implementation of near- and longer-term uses, with the intent to “put the park back into the park.” The vast site, which was once the Marine ...

Disney World Master Plan

Special issues in the computer-aided land analysis included depth to watertable, soils and organic mucks, and cypress groves. The analysis summary provided the basis for master planning a mixed-use community with extensive greenway conservation lands, resort development, entertainment facilities, a business park, and a residential community.

Mission Viejo Civic Core

The City of Mission Viejo hired SWA to analyze its core area for revitalization potential. The area contains a mix of civic, commercial, and recreational uses. A fragmented ownership pattern, dated architectural design, endless surface parking, minimal landscaping, and the lack of a pedestrian-friendly environment hindered the establishment of a town center th...

Downtown Summerlin

Downtown Summerlin is a 109-acre, high-end retail and entertainment lifestyle center forming the heart of a 22,500-acre master-planned community in the western suburbs of Las Vegas. The landscape design emphasizes the need for comfort and shade while drawing upon the natural desert environment as a visual source for materials, colors, and textures. By distilli...


Fort Wayne Riverfront

As a city that was built and thrived because of its location as a crossroads between wilderness and city, farm and market, the realities of infrastructure both natural and man-made are at the heart of Fort Wayne’s history. We consider waterways as an integral part of open spaces of the City, forming a series of infrastructural systems that affect the dynamics a

Nanhu New Country Village

China’s rapid urbanization over the past several decades has radically diminished its agricultural landscapes and labor force, focusing instead on industrial and technological advancements. The Nanhu New Country Village brings a contemporary approach to integrating agriculture and residences in a village setting, enhancing existing rural character, and improvin

Jeffrey Open Space Park

The Jeffrey Open Space Park represents approximately 96 acres of park and trails, with an average width of 265 ft. The three-mile long spine is designed for passive uses with a network of trails that connect to residential neighborhoods and active recreation parks.

The design process included a series of community workshops to solicit community’s commen...

Kenzo Winery

Kenzo Winery, located in the hilltops of southern Napa Valley in California, is a high end private winery nestled within a larger, 4,000 acre estate. The ecological framework of Napa Valley focuses on maintaining and enhancing the natural beauty of the landscape, while allowing local residents and visitors the ability to enjoy the area and experience the cultu...

Nanjing International Youth Cultural Centre

SWA was retained to design the landscape of this mixed-use development collaboratively with Zaha Hadid Architects. It contains performing arts, hotel, residential, office and retail functions. Located adjacent to SWA’s Nanjing Youth Olympic Park, the design strives to merge architecture, the park landscape, and people at this iconic focal point. Landform...

Larchmont Yacht Club

Larchmont Yacht Club is the second-oldest yacht club in the United States. Conceived in 1880 on the cleft rocks of Larchmont Manor, the club has grown to a membership in excess of 600, with a continued mission to instill and enhance an interest in yachting and the spirit of sportsmanship in members and their families. Set within a mature forest of deciduous tr...