Commons by the Park: Activating Mutual Aid Networks | Bachelors Design Project on Mixed-Use Urban Development

Site Context

The RIM Park Manulife Centre is a major recreation and sports destination that serves as a community landmark. However, its location at the edge of the city, surrounded by suburban development and agricultural land, limits its ability to act as a catalyst for broader urban growth. This proposed mixed-use development reclaims the parking lot south of the centre and transforms it into a vibrant urban block that introduces housing alongside community-oriented programs, including a maker space, daycare, language learning centre, retail spaces, and a community centre.

The project also seeks to strengthen connections between the site, the surrounding community, and RIM Park through the introduction of a transit hub that promotes public transportation and better integrates the development into its context. These connections are further reinforced through the incorporation of green space within the block and the extension of the existing trail network. To engage visitors to RIM Park, elements of play and recreation are embedded throughout communal spaces, including a basketball court, a rooftop playground, and a splash pad located adjacent to the existing creek.

Design Process

The design process began with an exploration of mutual aid networks operating at a regional scale within the Waterloo region. This research informed a series of design investigations that explored how existing urban infrastructure in and around the site could be leveraged to connect with these networks at an urban scale.

A cohort of fourteen students was assigned a ninety-two hectare site encompassing the areas surrounding RIM Park. A comprehensive analysis of the site was undertaken, including its ecological systems, demographic conditions, zoning frameworks, and transportation networks. The larger site was then subdivided into smaller urban blocks, which were further developed in smaller groups. 

Through the production of large-scale sketches, the design team prioritized patterns of entry, movement, and circulation, ensuring the urban block functioned as a key point of connectivity within the broader site while remaining a comfortable and livable environment for residents, workers, and visitors.

The process then shifted to an investigation of sectional relationships across the site in order to buffer it from adjacent roadways and to strategically position buildings that would generate favorable microclimates within key gathering spaces. These relationships were explored through a series of east-to-west sectional drawings and the construction of a sectional model.

Final Outcome

The final proposal introduces a compact urban block composed of multiple mixed-use building typologies that are closely integrated with landscape elements across a network of courtyards and public spaces. The landscape strategy incorporates a small performance stage, outdoor seating, and carefully placed planting to support gathering and social activity, while maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the RIM Park Manulife Centre and the surrounding nature conservation area.

A deliberate balance between programmed and unprogrammed spaces, supported by flexible outbuilding amenities, provides the community with adaptability. This approach accommodates both large-scale community events and informal, everyday interactions.

Conclusion: By establishing a new urban hub grounded in existing community connections and networks, the project reconsiders conventional notions of urbanity and demonstrates how meaningful community life can be cultivated at the edge of the city.

[This Academic Project has been published with text and images submitted by the student]