Gordonridge is ERA’s third project with MLSE Foundation developing place-based recreational spaces with community stakeholders, providing youth and adults a safe space to play and access a variety of sports within their neighbourhoods.

In August of 2018, ERA began working, as lead architect, with key project partners MLSE Foundation, Jumpstart, and Toronto Community Housing on the community-led revitalization plan of the existing outdoor basketball court.

A collaborative design process developed the vision for the court as the dynamic centre of the Gordonridge campus, tied into existing community programs and amenities, and capable of hosting multiple sports and larger community events concurrently.

The program included accessibility upgrades; new landscape-integrated spectator seating; new planting; multiple sporting opportunities including basketball, volleyball, pickleball, table tennis, skateboarding and parkour play elements, all framed within a new dynamic court surfacing and running track.

As the Prime Consultant and Landscape Architect, ERA developed and lead a series of collaborative community design-workshops, developed a design that met the community’s needs, and provided ongoing communication with the key stakeholders throughout construction to ensure that the outcomes were in line with the community’s vision.