Once owned by the City of Toronto and operated as a public market from 1837 to 1900, the Toronto Waterworks Buildings were redesigned in 1933 in the Art Deco style by City Architect John James Woolnough.

The adaptive reuse of the buildings by architects Diamond Schmitt and ERA includes the repurposing of the machine shop building as a food hall and the retention of the northern portion of the complex to accommodate a mix of uses. The new Waterworks features retail at grade, a YMCA athletic facility on the second and third floors, and residences above. As landscape architect for the project, JRS designed sustainable green roofs throughout the site, amenity terraces, and a simple but elegant streetscape with tree grates and two planting beds.

The 4th floor amenity terrace features a large central planter clad in black metal, lounge seating with 2 fireplaces and a 6” deep green roof with various wildflowers and grasses. The 14th floor amenity terrace includes BBQ and dining areas, a lounge with fireplace, and black metal planters. The terrace is surrounded by 4” and 6” deep green roofs with wildflowers/grasses.

JRS worked closely with the Client and LiveRoof Ontario to select the plant material for the green roofs, which included a hardy mix of grasses and sedums, and early, mid-season and late blooming perennials in a colour palette of purple, white and pink.