Spadina Quay Wetlands

Spadina Quay Wetlands was a typical urban wetland restoration problem: the open-water marsh terrestrial and aquatic plant communities suffer the image of being weedy and unkempt, despite being highly diverse, productive and active. The border between wetland and street was frumpy and decidedly un-urban. The project's challenge was to create an edge that mediates between the sidewalk and the wetland, providing seating and other urban amenities while foregrounding the wetland's structure as a legitimate form of urban park. The solution is an edging system consisting of a kit of parts that can be used in combination on a series of restoration projects - for which Spadina Quay would be the pilot project. The foundation element of the kit are raised wood timbers on corten steel legs which mark the urban edge of the site. In addition to supplying extensive seating close to the vegetation, the timber benches provide a definitive yet subtle border to the wetland, leading access into the site.