The 21st annual Brownie Awards were presented virtually on November 23, 2020.
Category 1: REPROGRAM – Legislation, policy and program initiatives
Brownfields Modernization & Excess Soil Regulation – Toronto, Ont.
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Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks undertook multiple initiatives to facilitate brownfield redevelopment in Ontario, engaging industry, staff from multiple ministries, and municipalities to identify issues and explore solutions.
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The new regulation was introduced, setting requirements for the reuse of excess soil to enable greater beneficial reuse of these soils.
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Amendments were made to the Record of Site Condition Regulation (O.Reg. 153/04) that reduce regulatory burden and barriers to timely delivery of Record of Site Condition filings and risk assessment acceptances.
Category 2: REMEDIATE - Sustainable remediation and technological innovation
Parc D’entreprises de la Pointe Saint – Charles Environmental Remediation – Montreal, Que.
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The City of Montreal constructed a 1.9-kilometre bentonite cement slurry wall and groundwater collection and treatment, to stop migration of contaminated groundwater into the St Lawrence River.
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The project utilized an innovative groundwater treatment process designed to limit use of raw materials and residue generation.
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The project was carried out in coordination with the City’s urban planning department to support re-development of 123 hectares of contaminated landsand to provide public access to the shores of the St. Lawrence River.
Category 3: REINVEST - Financing, risk management and partnerships
Lakeview Village – Mississauga, Ont.
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Lakeview Community Partners purchased a 177-acre brownfield site, home to the former OPG coal generating plant, and embarked on plans to transform the site into a vibrant mixed-use community.
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Sixty-seven acres of the waterfront will be given back to the City of Mississauga and transformed into a waterfront park with 3.5 kilometres of waterfront trails.
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Lakeview Village is proposing innovative solutions to address climate change, energy resiliency, waste management, and mobility challenges including autonomous vehicles, a district energy system to heat and cool 100+ buildings, and a vacuum waste collection system.
Category 4: REBUILD - Redevelopment at the local, site scale
75 Billy Bishop – Toronto, Ont.
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CreateTO bridged the gap between the private sector and government to facilitate the infill development of an underutilized brownfield site that increases intensification around a transit node.
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The project improved soil quality, and reused existing infrastructure in the form of a LEED-certified shell building.
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The resulting 50,000-sq. ft. retail centre added 130 new jobs to the local economy.
Category 5: RENEW - Redevelopment at the community scale
Crosstown Celestica – Toronto, Ont.
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The Crosstown project will transform the 60 acres constituting the former Canadian IBM headquarters into a mixed-use neighbourhood in the heart of Toronto including residential, parkland, community and commercial uses.
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Five thousand residential units, 800,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, and a new community centre will create a transit-oriented development community adjacent to the new Eglinton LRT.
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The development is implementing turn-key technology to improve livability, while integrating the historic architecture of heritage buildings.
Category 6: REACH OUT - Communication, marketing and public engagement
The Meadoway (TRCA) – Toronto, Ont.
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The Meadoway seeks to redevelop a hydro corridor, transforming 16 kilometres of underutilized monoculture into one of the largest urban greenspaces in
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Canada, extending Toronto’s active transportation network from downtown to Rouge National Urban Park.
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Perkins+Will developed a visualization toolkit informed by field investigations, bike and walking tours, and helicopter surveys. regeneration and other reinvestment strategies
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The toolkit included experiential elements including a 12-metre annotated map, 360-degree photos and videos, virtual and physical models, and educational programs at local schools.
Best small-scale project
Bata Shoe Factory – Batawa, Ont.
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The redevelopment of the Bata Shoe Factory is the first phase of the late Sonja Bata’s vision for the revitalization of the town of Batawa, established as a company town in 1939.
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The project involved the adaptive reuse of the original Bata Shoe Factory into a mixed-use residential, commercial, and community building.
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The renovated building retained the original concrete structure, saving close to 80 per cent of the original building’s embodied carbon, and uses a geothermal system for its HVAC needs, reducing CO2 emissions to nearly zero.
Best large-scale project
Pier 8 Redevelopment – Hamilton, Ont.
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Dillon Consulting and the City of Hamilton led and obtained the risk assessment and Record of Site Condition for the Pier 8 Redevelopment, attracting more interest from private developers and increasing market value of the development blocks.
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Proactive engagement with the MECP improved the RA and RSC process in a manner that can be replicated by private and public sectors for other neighbourhood-scale brownfield redevelopments in Ontario.
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The risk assessment for Pier 8 was completed as a single submission for the 16 individual blocks, fast-tracking the development process and resulting in a single Certificate of Property Use, with scalable implementation of risk management measures by development block.
Best overall project
Reunion Crossing – Toronto, Ont.
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DiamondKilmer developments assembled three vacant brownfield sites, transforming these into a transit-oriented vibrant new mixed-use community, a
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catalyst for the transformation of the St Clair and Old Weston Rd. area.
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The design integrates a mix of mid-rise and low-rise residential components, providing critical “missing middle” housing in the City of Toronto, and introducing new uses and density in a form appropriate for the surrounding residential neighbourhood scale.
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The development will introduce a new 857m 2 public park with a network of paths and green spaces, and includes a block of affordable housing delivered in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.
Category 7: Brownfielder of the Year
Josee Samson – City of Montreal
Information about Josee
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One of the longest standing members of the Canadian brownfields community, having worked with the City of Montreal as an environmental engineer since 1992.
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Samson’s leadership has allowed Montreal to meet these challenges head on. She has continuously helped the city navigate the changing environmental policy landscape, and has lobbied provincial and federal organizations for greater funding to support site remediation.
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In the past decade, her contributions to the development of innovative tools for the city, including a database containing nearly 8,000 soil samples, has been imperative for working to redevelop contaminated sites.
Congratulations to all the winners and finalists, and thank you to our judges, sponsors and everyone who supported the Awards by attending the Gala!
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