Pearson Regional Transit Hub

Student Exhibition

NRU
Dec. 13, 2017
By Daniel Taylor

Last Friday, Ryerson fourth year architectural students showcased their conceptual designs for a future Toronto Pearson regional transit hub.

Ryerson architectural science professor Kendra Smith told NRU that she first had the idea for the project when the Greater Toronto Airports Authority announced this past summer its plans to develop a future transit hub at Toronto Pearson International Airport. She said the project was particularly exciting because of the way it deals with the users' experience in navigating a huge and complex transit hub.

"A transit hub is exciting because its intersectional, it brings people together as they pass through space into something else, to go to the airport or coming to Toronto. It's part of the excitement of designing a transit centre," said Smith. "A lot of students were looking at the relationship between above and below, so you didn't need signs so much. You can see the trains below or above you, and you just know where to go."

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority issued an RFP in August for the architectural firm to lead the project. The successful firm is anticipated to be announced in January. Smith hopes her students projects are an inspiration for the design team.

Greater Toronto Airports Authority spokesperson Eileen Waechter laid out the project parameters for the students and organized individual tours for each student. She explained that while the regional transit centre at Toronto Pearson is intended to provide ground access to and from the airport, it will also serve as a regional transit centre for the whole area. She suggested the students consider future transit connections, beyond the current system.

"What we said to them is if you focus on nothing else, focus on the first phase where we'd like to see the beginnings of the regional transit, and to plan and protect for future transit connections. There won't be heavy rail in the beginning phase, but make sure you design it in such a way that those things could be added later."

Waechter was impressed with the quality of work the students brought to their presentations.

Urban Strategies partner Joe Berridge authored a white paper, commissioned by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, on the hub's future growth, connectivity and capacity. He told NRU the students had honed in on the need to create stress-relieving spaces in large transit projects to address what is usually a stressful user experience.

"When you're a planner you're so rigorous and constrained, and it's wonderful to see a gang of young people not so constrained and letting their imaginations go. So there was a lot of energy and a lot of imagination ... I liked the schemes that created these extraordinary spaces, and this sense of place, and sense of arrival and departure. Several students said 'you know, travel is high stress', so they designed an environment that calms you down so you enjoy it."

The students that exhibited were Fernando Arce, Sara Baghbani Shemirani, Si Chen, Alexander Christie, Kathleen Collins, Mina Hardan, Christian Innantuono, Sora Kim, Ho Kwan, Timothy Lai, Stephanie Lima, Adib Misaghi, Amanda Nalli, Blake Nicholson, Robin Nong and Meng Ye.

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is considering hosting an exhibition of the students' work at Toronto Pearson Airport.