RIVERSIDE-LESLIEVILLE STATION

The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is growing fast and expanding the transit system is essential to connect people to jobs, schools and their communities. The Ontario Line, a new 15 station, 15.6km rapid transit line with at-grade track, elevated guideways and underground tunnels, will be built to fulfill this critical need. The vision for all stations is one of modest, timeless, and elegant pavilions that serve transit customers and integrate into the community. Elevated stations have a greater impact on their immediate urban context and the central challenge is to adapt the design to specific neighborhood contexts, yet still represent a cohesive identity for the system. Riverside-Leslieville Station is surrounded by a vibrant community consisting of low-rise Victorian houses, busy shops and restaurants, and an existing Metrolinx rail corridor. The station design embodies modern architectural innovation with a focus on sustainability. It was designed to integrate into the neighbourhood in a positive way, with a low-profile design blended into the existing rail embankment. The station design was streamlined by placing the new rail alignment adjacent to the existing rail corridor, simplifying platform and station access and minimizing the need for additional infrastructure. Inspired by the neighborhood’s unique heritage and character, the station’s exterior features a contemporary facade with warm tone structural girders and terracotta panels that allude to the brick row building facades of the surrounding neighbourhood. The exterior glass envelope of all the stations shares the same modulation that maximizes the daylighting and transparency. The station layout prioritizes seamless passenger flow, accessibility, and safety, ensuring a user-centric design approach. The scale of the building is minimized, with entrances and service rooms integrated into the bridge embankments, disguising the scale of the station, and improving the pedestrian environment under the bridge. Natural lighting, open spaces, and intuitive wayfinding elements enhance the overall passenger experience, creating a welcoming environment for commuters and visitors alike. The wood ceiling also provides an inviting presence and strong identity to the stations both when viewed while alighting trains and approaching from a distance. The project also enhances and returns green space to the neighbourhood through improvements to nearby parks, including integration of noise barriers, with a thoughtful application of graffiti protections and eliminating access points. Riverside-Leslieville Station symbolizes a progressive approach to transit infrastructure design, where functionality, sustainability, and community values converge to create a dynamic and inclusive space.