Cloud Gardens, Conservatory park in the Financial District, Toronto, Canada
Cloud Gardens is an urban conservatory park in Toronto's Financial District situated between Yonge Street and Bay Street. The grounds feature a greenhouse with tropical plants and public green space that provides breathing room among tall buildings.
The site was established in the 1980s when developers of Bay Adelaide Centre provided financial compensation for exceeding building regulations. This payment enabled the creation of the green space as a trade-off for added building height.
Rising above the waterfall is a monument to Toronto's construction workers, designed by Margaret Priest and built by the Building Trades Union. Its squares each show one trade: one a network of steel rebars, another a cluster of wiring.
Cloud Gardens is closed for construction that began in November 2018 to replace the waterproofing beneath the park. Reopening is expected in 2026, once a new building west of the park is finished. The site runs from Richmond Street south to Temperance Street, between Yonge and Bay; the entrance sign stands on Temperance Street.
The greenhouse reproduces the cool, moist conditions of a cloud rainforest. A walkway runs from a lower-level entrance up to an upper-level exit beside the waterfall. The park won Baird Sampson Architects a Governor General's Architecture Award.
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