The Simcoe WaveDeck is one of four WaveDecks along Toronto’s Harbourfront. Located at the foot of Simcoe Street – 234 Queen’s Quay West to be exact – it opened in June 2009.
Located at the water’s edge, the wooden Simcoe WaveDeck features an informal public amphitheatre-style space with curves that soar as high as 2.6 metres above the lake. Inspired by the Canadian cottage experience and the shorelines of Ontario’s great lakes, the WaveDeck is meant to give urban dwellers a feel for life at the lake.
The other WaveDecks along the Harbourfront are the Spadina WaveDeck (foot of Spadina Avenue), the Rees WaveDeck (west of Rees Street on the south side of Queens Quay), and the Parliament WaveDeck (foot of Parliament Street; currently under development).
The WaveDecks were designed by the firm West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The WaveDecks have achieved the Award of Excellence, Ontario Builders Awards (2009) and were nominated for the Conde Nast Traveller Innovation and Design Awards (2010).
The Spadina WaveDeck has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including a Toronto Urban Design Award. It was also the first Canadian project ever to be short-listed for the world-acclaimed Brit Insurance Design Awards.
The Rees WaveDeck has been honoured with several awards including a Bronze Medal for Landscape Design from the Design Exchange.
The Simcoe WaveDeck’s Construction
To see a time lapse video of the Simcoe WaveDeck’s construction, check this out:
Future Plans
There is to eventually be a total of 8 WaveDecks along the Harbourfront, and they promise to totally transform our waterfront.
Here’s an interesting video from our controversial architecture critic Christopher Hume, discussing this project and its expansion:
This is such a lovely part of the city. I love how they fixed up that square and the fountain…