The Bloor-Dufferin Redevelopment is a 7.3-acre site at Bloor Street West and Dufferin Street, next to Dufferin Station. After the lands were declared surplus by the Toronto District School Board, a Working Group made up of the City of Toronto, Toronto Lands Corporation, TDSB, and the Province of Ontario initiated a review to consider how the site could support public interests, learning opportunities, and broader community benefits.
We prepared a master plan concept for the site, exploring how new development could support housing, public space, heritage conservation, and community uses within one coordinated framework.
CLIENT:
ELAD CANADA
LOCATION:
TORONTO, ON
STATUS:
MASTER PLAN
PROJECT DURATION:
2020
How can a large former institutional site become part of the neighbourhood while protecting its public value?
The site had several important layers to consider. It included the historic Kent School building, long-standing community interest, existing pedestrian movement through the area, and a prominent location at one of Toronto’s major transit intersections.
The challenge was not only to introduce new development, but to ensure that the site could feel public, accessible, and connected. The concept needed to preserve heritage value, support community-serving uses, create meaningful open spaces, and respond to the way people already move through the area.
In response, the master-planned concept preserved the 1909 beaux-arts Kent School building without additions and reimagined it as a community hub, arts centre, and public rooftop garden. A series of open courtyards were introduced between the heritage building and future development, including a covered courtyard designed to accommodate the area’s farmers’ market in winter.
A new park was proposed at the southern edge of the site, while building massing was arranged to improve sky views and support access to sunlight during the winter months. The concept also built on existing pedestrian flows between Bloor Street, Dufferin Street, the surrounding neighbourhood, and the adjacent mall, using movement through the site as the foundation for a more active public realm.
Together, these elements created a pedestrian-oriented framework for a mixed-use community destination rooted in heritage, public space, and everyday neighbourhood life.
