The Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) was honoured at the City of Toronto’s annual Green Toronto Awards with the Green Design Award, having previously been recognized with an Environmental Award of Excellence. Each year the Green Toronto Awards honour and celebrate leading companies, organizations and individuals for outstanding achievement and contributions to the greening of Toronto. Located in Edwards Gardens, the TBG is a charitable organization offering educational programs, garden tours, meeting places and an extensive horticultural library for public use. This building project expands on two existing linked buildings originally designed by Raymond Moriyama (1964) and Jerome Markson (1976). Montgomery Sisam Architects are responsible for the recent renovations and an addition to the existing buildings; new features include an expanded library, a new store, additional administrative space and a children’s centre, providing access to the latest in education tools year-round, with both indoor and outdoor classrooms. A pavilion of fritted glass forms the addition and is positioned to create a series of garden courts directly related to interior public spaces. The pavilion has a sloping green roof visible from one of the courtyards and will offer a dramatic presence in the park, especially at dusk, like a lantern in the dark evening sky. Montgomery Sisam have designed the addition to achieve LEED Silver accreditation, consistent with the Toronto Botanical Garden’s mission of advocating stewardship of the natural environment through responsible gardening and horticultural excellence.
