Tyndale Green

Tyndale Green is a 23-hectare (56 acres) mixed-use development in collaboration with Tyndale University, an interdenominational seminary in North Toronto. The vision for Tyndale Green sees several exciting precedents for affordable housing in the City of Toronto. Key drivers of the master plan include: high quality affordable rental housing, a vibrant green public realm, sensitive integration to the neighbouring community, excellence in design quality and environmental stewardship, and sustainability and respect to the ravine landscape. The planned development expands and transforms the university campus, which includes amodernist cathedral at is centre and the original motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Roman Catholic congregation of women founded in France circa 1650. The master plan aims to evolve the campus into an affordable mixed-use community with a university at its core while taking into consideration the distinctive and natural setting at the edge of Toronto’s ravine system and recreational trail network. Set in a pastoral landscape, the Tyndale Green neighborhood comprises 12 buildings ranging in height from six to 24 storeys, with all but two buildings between six and eight storeys tall. The two taller buildings are located strategically to mitigate shadow impacts and create appropriate transitions to the surrounding neighbourhood. Set to be one of the largest privately delivered affordable housing projects on private land in the City of Toronto, it will include 1500 purpose-built residential rental units, including market and affordable units, including workforce housing, a new daycare facility, and a new community recreation centre. Design excellence, heritage preservation, environmental sustainability, walkability, and livability are key drivers of the design concept. New residential buildings will frame a series of public open spaces, including two new public parks and a central ceremonial “academic green” shared by residents and members of the university community. The project will also deliver ambitious sustainability features, including a geothermal renewable energy exchange program, which will provide zero emissions heating and cooling to the entire residential component, as well as best-in-class sustainable stormwater management principles including on-site collection, rainwater gardens, permeable pavers, and a sustainability-first landscape plan. Over 40% of the site will be conveyed to the public as protected ravine lands. Along the top-of-slope line, the client and design team worked closely with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to establish a variable-width ravine buffer zone that exceeds the land area of a typical 10-meters-wide. New residents, neighbouring community members, and the existing Tyndale University community will share a lush and walkable system of pedestrian pathways that meander through the setting, connecting all the public spaces and knitting together the ravine trail system and the existing neighbourhood fabric. Tyndale Green is conveniently located within walking distance of bus, subway and regional train service exemplifying how Toronto’s inner suburbs can be transformed into complete, walkable communities that provide much-needed housing supply in a growing city, while also providing benefits for existing community members.