Opened in 2010, Evergreen Brick Works (550 Bayview Ave.) has become a favourite place to visit, whether it is for a special event, educational program, the Farmer’s Market, to walk your dog, skate in the winter, or even to learn about community gardening and sustainable site design. The vision to reimagine the old industrial site began with citizen action to restore the Don River in the 1980’s, and was championed by Evergreen (as their new head quarters) with multiple community and government partners. The success of the green stormwater infrastructure design (permeable concrete, bioswales, greenways, and extensive plantings) is shown by the resilient landscape that returns to pre-storm conditions, soon after extreme rainfall flooding events. Following a conceptual site design by Claude Cormier and Associates, DTAH was engaged as the local landscape architect to help make the vision a reality. Circular tree plantings on raised mounds allowed for adequate soil volumes, and to not disturb the contaminated soil below.

Sheila was on an interdisciplinary project team at DTAH developing the site plan and landscape construction drawings. She contributed to the landscape design, and was responsible for the planting designs and soil mixes for the extensive native species plantings, including for community plantings. Inspired by Group of Seven artist A. J. Casson’s paintings, she specified white pine (Ontario’s official tree) for the skating rink gardens. Interestingly, her mother remembers visiting to buy bricks with her bricklayer father as a girl. (Rendered site plan above is by Claude Cormier and Associates.)