OmniaBio B - McMaster Innovation Park, Hamilton ON

McMaster Innovation Park (MIP) is Canada’s premier research and innovation park supporting startups, business, research and offering collaborative space to transform ideas from vision to commercial reality. OmniaBio B is a groundbreaking commercial-scale cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility, intended to advance life sciences and pioneering medicine to cure diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, and more. The project is made possible from a $580 million investment, including $40 million through Invest Ontario. SpruceLab Inc. led landscape architectural design, working closely with the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) team (comprised of Colliers Project Leaders, IBI Group, Arup Canada, mcCallumSather, Guild Electric Limited, Sprint Mechanical Inc., Flynn Canada, Walters Inc., and Multiplex). SpruceLab was also involved in advancing the MIP master plan, ensuring coordination with the design decisions made at Omniabio B.

The landscape design has vibrant, low maintenance, native species plantings, and robust materials that reflect the natural aesthetic of the Niagara Escarpment and contribute to the restoration of nearby Chedoke Creek. An outdoor picnic area is framed by a low, curved, dry stone wall, with a large, rough-hewn wood and unfinished metal base picnic table, providing opportunities for sitting in larger groups. The dry stone wall was constructed by the talented master stonemason Dean McLellan and stone wallers from Saugeen First Nation. Parking lots have planted traffic islands and are bordered by groves of native species of shrubs and trees. The paving design uses rust and dark brown heritage colours to celebrate the industrial heritage of the area, with strong diagonal lines suggestive of the embodied energy involved in industry and innovation.

The images below show the construction of the landscape in progress (as of Nov. 2023).