Canada’s Sugar Beach is a whimsical new park thattransformed a surface parking lot in a former industrial area into Toronto’ssecond urban beach at the water’s edge.

Located at the foot of Lower Jarvis Street adjacent to theRedpath Sugar Factory, the 8500 square metre (2 acre) park is the first publicspace visitors see as they travel along Queens Quay from the centralwaterfront. The park’sbrightly coloured pink beach umbrellas and iconic candy-striped rockoutcroppings welcome visitors to the new waterfront neighbourhood of EastBayfront.

The designfor Canada’s Sugar Beach, by Claude Cormier + Associés draws upon theindustrial heritage of the area and its relationship to the neighbouringRedpath Sugar factory. The park features three distinct components: an urbanbeach; a plaza space; and a tree-lined promenade running diagonally through thepark.

Canada’s SugarBeach reminds us that Toronto’s waterfront is a playful destination. The beachallows visitors to while away the afternoon as they read, play in the sand orwatch boats on the lake. A dynamic water feature embedded in a granite mapleleaf beside the beach makes cooling off fun for adults and children.

The park’splaza offers a dynamic space for public events. A large candy-striped graniterock outcropping and three grass mounds give the public unique vantage pointsfor larger events and the spaces between the mounds result in a naturalperformance space for smaller events.

Between theplaza and the beach, people will stroll through the park along a promenadefeaturing granite and tumbled concrete cobblestones in a maple leaf mosaicpattern. Lined with mature maple trees, the promenade offers a shaded route tothe water’s edge providing the public with many opportunities along the way tosit and enjoy views to the lake, beach or plaza.