The redesign of Butterfield Park is now underway. The consultant team was excited to receive valuable input from the community who uses the space.
“I’d like to thank all who participated in the collection of inspiring ideas and feedback in the Butterfield Park survey,” said Ana Serrano, President and Vice Chancellor, OCAD University. “We are thrilled that not only did a large number of students provide their input, but so did members of our local community. We look forward to working with our faculty, students and neighbors as they further engage with us in the next stages of this wonderful project.”
OCAD U’s main outdoor space will be redesigned to respond to the urban context in a suitable, creative and inspiring way. TD Bank has contributed funding of $100,000 towards the overall redesign with another $50,000 to support a community design build aspect of the project.
PFS Studio (the same landscape architect firm that redesigned Grange Park) is leading the design process in collaboration with Two Row Architect, as the Indigenous consultant.
Consultation and feedback
As a first step, the design team solicited feedback from students, faculty and staff through a survey in July about various preferences, including factors such as park usage, integration of OCAD U values and overall vision.
The redesign has generated a lot of interest (212 responses), particularly among students, who made up 67 per cent of respondents. A summary of the survey results can be found here (to request an accessible PDF, please email: creativecitycampus@ocadu.ca).
Input from University stakeholder groups as well as from residents of the neighbourhood is also being taken into consideration.
The consultant team is currently exploring the original design objectives for the project, site parameters and relevant precedents, as well as developing a design strategy in response to the feedback collected so far.
The proposed design strategy that has been discussed with the Design Stakeholder group will be shared with the internal and public communities with opportunities for further feedback in early fall.
Specific consultations will be set up for other groups including the Indigenous community of faculty, staff and students, and general student community. One was held on August 17.
Butterfield Park Redesign Open House
On Thursday, September 3, from 1:30 to 3 p.m., Campus Planning and Projects will provide a summary of the survey results as well as an update on the progress with the design in response to these survey results. There will also be a question-and-answer period.
To obtain the link for this event, please send an email before Wednesday September 2, 5 p.m. to creativecitycampus@ocadu.ca.
Additional engagement opportunities will be announced this fall for further participation in a preliminary phase related to an element such as public art, community agriculture or street furniture, as part of the overall project.
Be a part of the vision; the potential of the project is exciting!
Members of the OCAD U community are invited to reach out with any questions or comments to creativecitycampus@ocadu.ca.