Below, Above, and Beyond: Reimagining Integration of an Equitable Podium Level of Transit-Oriented Communities

Abstract

This thesis proposes an investigative framework for designing transit-oriented podiums to facilitate their integration into the transit-oriented communities (TOCs) they serve in Toronto. Transit is essential to the daily lives of more than two million Canadians and is key to a city’s economic growth. In Canada, where 81.5% of Canadians commute by car, transit-oriented developments (TODs) are a high priority in the core areas of major communities to foster social diversity, reduce urban congestion, and lower carbon emissions. Here, the transit-oriented podium plays a critical role in supporting the successful implementation of TOCs. The typology serves as the key connector among transit commuters, tower residences, and the existing community context, shaping the public realm. However, the current typical building podium design is often static and repetitive. This is often due to how the podium design is approached, given the typology’s inherent nature to be generic, gridded, and easily repurposed, resulting in a lack of consideration of the podium’s future programmatic occupants during the early design phases.

The research proposes a framework for redefining the approach to podium design through an urban and building design case study on two proposed TOC sites of markedly different scales along the Ontario Line in Toronto, Ontario: Pape Station and Thorncliffe Park. The research examines contemporary developments in podium configuration, including the influence of policymaking, urban connectivity, and program allocation. Site-specific analysis is required to understand the different approaches to each site. The integration of a transit-oriented podium at Pape Station is being considered on a smaller scale. Rather than a TOC, the podium proposed at Pape Station serves as the anchor for a future TOC, with speculation about its future densification given its proximity to other stations on the Bloor-Danforth line. Thorncliffe Park, on the other hand, is approached at a larger scale, with a series of podiums proposed, as it is already a well-defined community.

The proposed designs focus on the connection of the podium and its immediate surroundings and are not concerned with large-scale connectivity between transit stops. This includes the podium’s connection to the immediate transit infrastructure, the circulation among tower residents, transit users, and podium occupants, and program allocation based on their accessibility and visibility requirements for success, and the needs of the community it serves.

The thesis presents designs in the investigative and schematic phase to establish a proof of concept for the proposed framework. Pape Station and Thorncliffe Park are only two of the many neighbourhoods in Toronto planned for rapid densification around transit hubs. While each transit station may share similarities, the communities they serve are all different. The thesis stresses that the design approach for podiums is site-specific, and the framework’s flexible approach could inform future transit-oriented podium design.