davisville school: a background reportmidtownplan.ca/davisville/davisville_school_background.pdf ·...

D A V I S V I L L E S C H O O L : A B A C K G R O U N D R E P O R T

The fol lowing is intended to contr ibute background information to ass ist in the discuss ions in the Davisv i l le School redevelopment study process. I t is focused on the s ite 's physical character ist ics and surrounding context. deferr ing to the School 's experts with respect to the school(s) fac i l i ty requirements.

- Terry Mil ls

PLANNING CONTEXT IN BRIEF

The s ite is s i tuated in an area designated in the Off ic ial Plan as a Residential Neighborhood. The zoning currently permits less than one t imes coverage. Unl ike the NTCI, i t is not in an Apartment Neighborhood, nor is i t designated as being a Growth Center. Although the s ite fal ls within the boundar ies of the Yonge Egl inton Secondary Plan, there are no specif ic s i te pol ic ies beyond those apply ing to the planning area as a whole.

FUTURE CONTEXT

Looking forward into the future considerable change is immanent and antic ipated: along Yonge Street , in the Apartment Neighbourhood to the south, and on the Davisvi l le TTC lands nearby. The planning of the Davisv i l le School property should have regard for the overal l future development of this local i ty, and it should both antic ipate and inform these surrounding developments. The object ive is to acquire a comprehensive benefic ial outcome. Besides looking to provide a marketable hous ing proposit ion, there are poss ible addit ional opportunit ies to monet ize the School 's assets inc luding for instance: accommodating underground parking for the adjacent Mixed-Use property 's benefi t , and more broadly attaining added-value for the School 's outcome through configur ing an overal l solut ion in concert with the adjacent property 's - or propert ies ' - ambit ions.

TERRY MILLS B.ARCH RPP MCIP [email protected] P R E L I M I N A R Y NOV 12, 2011 PAGE 1


LOCALITY

The s ite is located in Midtown Toronto within a stable Resident ial Neighborhood. It is approximately 100m away from the Davisvi l le Subway and Bus Stat ion, which provides the southern anchor for the main street retai l structure. Immediately north of Mil lwood Road there is a proposed Mid-Rise Mixed-Use development. The Davisvi l le TTC lands southwest of Davisv i l le-Yonge have been the subject of recent considerat ion for intensif icat ion. In addit ion, with the City 's current re-urbanizat ion strategy and the development industry 's momentum in Midtown, the gaps between bui ldings on the south s ide of Davisvi l le Avenue can be expected to spawn further tower projects.

THE SITE

This s i te is nominal ly 300' x 500' with streetscapes fronting along both the north and south long s ides. The topography is essential ly f lat . The school property has a normal footpr int of some 60' x 400' and the school i tself is located on the northern 40% of the overal l property. The school 's structure paral lels Mil lwood Road and is setback some 50' from the s idewalk with i ts grounds compartmental ized into play areas. This space provides street park character ist ics combining soft landscaping with footpaths , walkways and parking accesses.

There are mature trees along both street frontages , a loose arrangement of trees along the western edge, with addit ional internal trees interspersed along the school 's southern elevat ion. The open areas are comprised of green spaces, sports surfaces, playground areas and an organized parking area. The large area south of the exist ing school has good solar access benefic ia l to open space purposes.



EDGES: MILLWOOD AVENUE

Mil lwood Road is a wel l -establ ished, wel l - treed residential neighbourhood street of good and stable character. I t is effect ively one long block uninterrupted by any intersect ions throughout i ts half k i lometer traverse, extending from the retai l main street environment of Yonge Street through to Davisvi l le Park. I t is s leeved with a divers ity of bui lding types ranging from: detached housing through double-duplexes, lowrise apartment-types, the school and the f lank-s ides of retai l f ronting Yonge Street. Besides local residential traff ic Mil lwood Road provides vehicular access for the school and, as wel l , back-street funct ional i ty support ing the retai l offer ings s i tuated along Yonge Street.

EDGES: DAVISVILLE AVENUE

Davisvi l le Avenue alongside the school has the physical character ist ics of an arter ial street, a lthough this condit ion ends abruptly at both Yonge Street and at Mount Pleasant where i ts extensions are reduced down to only two lanes of traff ic , character ist ic of local neighbourhood streets. Port ions of the arter ial sect ion have been reduced with the introduction of road furnishings to abate speeding and reinforce pedestr ian funct ional i ty.

Davisvi l le Avenue is the dividing l ine between the Residential Neighborhood designation on i ts north s ide, and the Apartment Neighborhood designat ion on the south s ide. The major ity of pedestr ian movement along the street is s i tuated on the south s ide, where the s idewalk is of a l imited width. This is ref lect ive of the area's histor ical or igins as house-form neighbourhood pr ior to i ts conversion to an Apartment Neighborhood.

The north s ide of Davisvi l le Avenue is comprised of di f ferent segments: Yonge Street associated retai l , Davisvi l le School , parking lot , housing cluster, Apartment c luster, duplex-housing, and then Davisvi l le Park. The school has a 500' frontage that presents somewhat hard shoulder to street as a result of the play ing f ield fencing and grade differential . The streetscape lacks a cont inuity of tree canopy and is dependent upon landscaping character ist ics of the abutt ing propert ies , as the 4- lane roadbed and s idewalk occupy the major ity of the street al lowance.



EDGES: EASTERN FLANK RESIDENTIAL

The abutt ing lands to the east of the school cons ist of a 100' swath separat ing the school from the lowrise apartment-type structures further east. This is a stable area presently, a lthough it is under some expectat ions of being in trans it ion. I t would not be unreasonable to presume that i f these lands were assembled.. . then an appl icat ion might ar ise to extend the apartment structures r ight up to the school grounds.

EDGES: MIXED USE PROPERTY FRONTING YONGE STREET

The abutt ing lands to the west of the school front pr incipal ly onto Yonge Street, having a depth of some 200' . The ex ist ing stores are pr imari ly s i tuated along the main street , with a comprehensive surface parking lot behind that adjoins the school property l ine. Considerable development indicat ions are evident. In al l l ikel ihood this Mixed-Use parcel wi l l become subject to a development proposal fol lowing the Mid-Rise Guidel ines involving considerable height and densi ty with substantial retai l at grade, condominiums above and extens ive parking below grade. The substantial depth of the property is advantageous to redevelopment, providing ample dimensions within which a comprehensive solut ion can be expected.

VEHICULAR CIRCULATION

The opportunity exists for a vehicular service road or laneway between the retai l lands and the school property, offer ing advantages to both parcels and improving the vehicu lar c irculat ion in the immediate local i ty. The School 's increased enrol lment wi l l involve a broader catchment area with a greater number of students arr iv ing and depart ing by bus and car. Drop-off and pick-up evolut ions ( in part icu lar the long standing t imes of afternoon pick-ups) wi l l not be manageable along Mil lwood Road alone. It would be benefic ial to have addit ional vehicular faci l i ty,either provided along Davisvi l le Avenue, or incorporated into the potential service road ment ioned.



NTCI EXAMPLE OF STAGING THE WORK

The redevelopment of Davisvi l le School is a s imi lar process to that of North Toronto Col leg iate Inst itute s ituated between Broadway and Roehampton Avenues – although the latter is a high school rather than publ ic school and so the school program is somewhat dif ferent. The NTCI is s i tuated in an Apartment Neighbourhood, whereas the Davisvi l le School is in a Residential (house-form) Neighbourhood. The NTCI s i te is larger than the Davisvi l le School s i te by approximately 60%. The Davisv i l le School lands can be envis ioned - i f rotated 90°- as occupying al l of the play ing f ield and non-bui l t area of the NTCI. The NTCI was developed in a two-step cut-and-f i l l procedure. The new school and the residential towers were bui l t on the open port ions of the s ite, and upon their commissioning the exist ing school was demolished, becoming the school 's play ing f ield.

ALTERNATIVES

The redevelopment of the Davisvi l le School - or NTCI for that matter - is not a s imple 'Brownfie ld' proposit ion where the exist ing is s imply demolished and the new solut ion instal led. The School is required to funct ion throughout the ful l course of development. The residential component(s) needs to mater ial i ze in the init ial stage in order to secure the optimum f inancial benefits . Construct ion may fol low the s ingle-stage process appl ied to the NTCI, or may involve a two-stage process – in order to sat isfy specif ic constraints and achieve an optimum outcome. L ikewise, redevelopment may be of advantageous- interest to the adjacent developer of the lands to the west as a consol idated project, or shar ing elements.

SINGLE-STAGE ALTERNATIVES

. . .these involve bui lding on the exist ing open space, then demol ishing the exist ing school , ut i l i z ing the old bui ld ing area for open space(s) . This wi l l result in the open space being s ituated to the northern port ion. Such configurat ions need to be looked at in some detai l with respect to overshadowing dur ing the hours/days of school usage.

TWO-STAGE ALTERNATIVES

Performing the work in two-stages provides the opportunity of s i tuat ing a major port ion of the open space to the south, with greater solar exposure. Construct ion in this manner effect ively rotates the exist ing open space and play ing areas onto a north-south axis away from their current east-west or ientat ion. When the f i rst stage of work is complete, the exist ing school can be demolished and replaced with a second iterat ion of school and residential components. In that the School 's development program cal l s for replacing the ex ist ing school and introducing new schools , i t may be possible to sat isfy the exist ing program and its enrol lments in stage-one and then introduce the new school programs in stage-two.



BUILDING PROGRAM

In s imple terms, the School 's redevelopment is intended to accommodate twice the number of students in a new school structure, providing a broader educat ion offer ing , and involv ing a wider catchment area. The contemporary standard of space eff ic iency requires only half the square footage per student of pr ior pract ises. Hence the amount of bui lding demolished and replaced wi l l be relat ively the same, and i f constructed in a s imi lar three storey fashion then the footpr int may remain relat ively the same.

DENSITY OF DEVELOPMENT

The North Toronto Col legiate Inst itute's replacement has been used as a comparat ive development model . The differences in s ize between these two propert ies has been factored along with the total school f loor areas involved. The resident ial space provided in the NTCI example has been prorated to project the degree of residential development required for the Davisvi l le solut ion. The fol lowing f igures are cursory and approximate – and are expressed in square feet:

Land School Condos Sum Density NTCI 230000 170000 500000 670000 2.9Davisvi l le 160000 80000 240000 320000 2.0

It would appear that the Davisvi l le School project would result in a Floor Space Index of some 2-t imes the s ite area.

MASSING

The western end of the school s i te is able to accommodate a greater amount of height being adjacent to the Mixed-Use area and so less constrained than the eastern end. Massing presumptions need to be truthed against solar consequences upon the open space solut ions. Stacking resident ial on top of the school(s) , as done in the NTCI solut ion, is benefic ia l to the amount of open space that can be del ivered.



STAKEHOLDERS

The tradit ional tr iangle of relat ionship between community-development-City is somewhat dif ferent than in general intensif icat ion init iat ives. . . as the pr imary object ive is to improve the publ ic school offer ing by leveraging the residential development potential of the exist ing land-asset. In so doing i t blurs the dist inct ion of interests. The cost-benef it and impacts needs to be assessed in terms of the surrounding community context, and the on s ite improvement in the form of a new school(s) structure.

ISSUES

The fol lowing is a part ial and potential l ist of issues. I t is presented on an informational basis contr ibuting to the exercise of the School 's experts.

SCHOOL ISSUES• mult iple schools legibi l i ty • school(s) funct ional i ty• safety and secur ity• separat ions: school(s) and residential• retai l juxtaposit ion• traff ic issues• open space and play ing f ields• optimizing solar access

NEIGHBOURHOOD ISSUES• open space and community faci l i t ies• massing of intensif icat ion• trans it ion to surrounds• configurat ion of Mil lwood streetscape • traff ic and drop-off/pick-up evolut ions• managing change


davisville school: a background reportmidtownplan.ca/davisville/davisville_school_background.pdf ·...

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