Sudbury 2050
Site/ Write-Up
The City of Greater Sudbury, which is situated on the Western shore of Lake Ramsey is well known for mining its natural resources (mostly nickel and copper), which generated a significant portion of Can¬ada's exports. Sudbury, today, continues to dominate Canada as one of the largest mining areas in the country as it lies strategically along the Trans-Canada Highway and two transcontinental railways, serving as the primary commercial and service sector of Northern Ontario. Over time, this economic activity gen¬erated new opportunities within the municipality such as lumber milling, woodwork and machine shops while remaining a primary exporter of natural resources. Looking closer, the Urban Core of Sudbury is oddly divided by the dominant railyards, separating the city centre into two sectors, commercial and res¬idential. While this plan assists suburban segregation and the cul-de-sac movement, it is vital to consider the pedestrian by merging the commercial with the residential to create a single cohesive design. The challenge is that the railyards have deep roots not only within the economy of the city of Sudbury, but for various corporations associated with Sudbury's exports around the province, country and world. Numer¬ous schemes were discussed in the 1970's (Appendix G, Page 132-133) on how to tackle this condition by proposing a relocation of the railyards in order to build on the land it currently occupies. The relocation of the railyards would succeed in appreciating the value of the land over time; however, it would cost the citizens and corporations time and money. The idea was not brought to action and remains a threat to the potential new developments in the surrounding area. The railyards continue to disrupt the heart of Sudbury's urban grid, without providing a viable option for the use of daily commuters; but as science and technology allows architects to push the limits of engineering, new opportunities arrive.
The proposal for Sudbury's Urban Core by 2050 is different than an overall 'urban masterplan' of the city's urban core but rather a development on a region of land which is already being occupied by rail¬yards, without spending time and money on removing them. This concept was used in New York's recently celebrated 'Hudson Yards' development which is an urban plaza surrounded by a series of high-rise towers on top of pre-existing railyards. A series of supporting coloumn walls stabilize the base, each separated between pairs of rail tracks. The new urban development consists of two large structures, individually embracing their own tower while respecting the Southern residential developments from the Northern commercial hub. It serves as an attraction hub in between the two sectors, allowing residents and visitors to visit a lively central heart with various amenities. Programs included in the new development include; A new Via Rail Station, Retail Centre, Dining and Hospitality, Performance Theatre, Athletic Centre, Con¬ference Centre, Library, Art Gallery, Hotel and Residential Complex. The plaza includes a farmer's market, various unique pedestrian paths, a hockey rink which can be converted into an outdoor stage with con¬nected bleachers that support the semi-cantilevered library.
These various programs are uniquely situated in order to smoothly transition from a low-density residential sector towards a redeveloping-commercial centre. It promotes a sustainable economic model by utilizing the cash to continue building with the existing urban challenges rather than destroying the railyards, relocating them, then building. The development will provide a redesigned Via Rail station in order to accommodate the destruction of the existing one, which will in return offer more parking as, well as an openly available attraction for tourists. The parking will be connected to the Via-Rail directly accessible from Elgin Street, in between the Bridge of Nations and Shaughnessy Street. This is strategically placed in order to restrict vehicular traffic for three blocks in the urban core on Elgin Street in between Shaughnessy and Brady. Not only does this promote sustainable modes of transportation but enables the new development also acts as a bridge for a new experience to travel from home to work, home to dining, home to etc.
The programs of the site were adjusted to a medium sized emerging city with potential for ex-pansion. The base level of the development is commercial retail with a rough total of 19, 150m2 build¬able space, which incentivises foot traffic to the development. Stacking on the commercial base on the Southern façade is dedicated to dining with 2,734m2 of indoor space, with an open patio concept of over 5,000m2 to adjust to a post COVID future. On the Western side of the first tower, level two opens into a double-height conference centre with 1,870m2, followed on the Northern wing of an Art Gallery spanning 2,400m2, shadowed by a two-storey cantilevered Library with 2,650m2. On the wing of the second level of the Northern most structure opens with an athletics centre with a gymnasium spanning 3,400m2 parallel to a matching dedicated outdoor area. The last tower (North)houses a 3 storey Performance Theatre from level 2-4, while serving a range of 600-800 guests (3,000m2 - 4,500m2 depending on layout). On top of the theatre is a residential complex with a total of 26,350m2 accommodating to 260-units, directly opposite to the 181-unit Hotel towering on the South with a total area of 13,600m2. The number of units were cal¬culated using a formula which dedicates 20% of buildable space to essential programs such as hallways and egress and suggests a generous residential unit size of 80m2 and hotel room size of 60m2 {1. (26, 350 (0.8)/ 80), 2. (13, 600 (0.8)/ 60)}. These various programs are supported on a platform with an engineer¬ing approach similar to the Hudson Yards development (appreciate the value of cheap land by cohesively applying engineering and architecture). The platform itself provides the public with opportunities to con¬nect with one another on various levels of the development. Accessing the newly designed 30,000m2 of public plaza space allows inhabitants to utilize much requested 'green space' with various amenities. The programs for the plaza include a convertible hockey arena into a performance stage various benches and seating, a farmer's market sheltered by the stands, an Indigenous Cultural Bench, various ramps and stairs for easy out-door roof-access, a water fountain, and various unique paths with semi-plazas.
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