Ontario Line - Exhibition Station

Exhibition Station is one of the country's most popular destinations for sports, concerts, and trade shows, not to mention family attractions like the CNE. As the western terminus of the new Ontario Line, The station will be a much-needed connection to the GO Transit rail network and bring the subway system closer to many homes and businesses in the growing and vibrant Liberty Village community. Exhibition Station will be a landmark above-ground station on the western edge of Toronto’s downtown. The surrounding area and the disconnect caused by the rail corridor prompted a need for safe and comfortable public access to the two sides of the rail corridor. The adjacent Exhibition Grounds and BMO Stadium required a station that could accommodate event surges in ridership with retail offerings and passenger amenities. The reference concept design of the station is part of a design approach for the more extensive Ontario Line. The Station is an elevated structure that provides optimal transfers between GO, Ontario Line Subway, and future bus, streetcar, and bike networks. An above-grade volume that bridges across created an opportunity with a significant constructability and cost-saving benefit whilst making an invisible station visible. From it emerged a needed civic amenity with added retail within the neighborhood. The proposed solution is an iconic station that is the image of a modern interchange station and community catalyst. The architectural expression is grounded by an efficient structural design with ultralight-weight ETFE roofing, that creates an airy interior and a light architectural assembly that acts as a lens to the Toronto skyline. While the roof is ethereal, the materials straddling the street edges and adjacent Gardiner Expressway are chosen to be traditionally similar in the palette of the industrial brick surroundings of Liberty Village and Parkdale.