Eastern Link—an interdisciplinary project created by five Georgia Tech students—was a finalist in the 2018 ULI Hines Competition, an annual event which challenges aspiring architects, urban designers, developers and urban planners to create a development proposal for a city in transition.
An excerpt from the project by Paul Steidl, Clare Healy, Jonathan Franklin, Zach Lancaster and Maryam Alzaabi:
Eastern Link unlocks major opportunities for coming together. Partnerships form links with Toronto’s arts, sustainability, and housing organizations—ensuring deep roots in the community and opportunities for all. A repositioned SmartTrack/GO station unlocks development opportunity east of the track and creates a bold transit hub for subway, rail and LRT. Adaptive reuse links past and future. Heritage buildings transform into cultural institutions and a pedestrian link forges across the Don River using the historic bridge infrastructure.
With its emphasis on both culture and daily life, Eastern Link is a neighbourhood that is iconic but also intimate. It’s new but also authentic. It’s home for artists, newcomers, and families.
More information about the project from the Urban Land Institute