The Humber Arboretum Centre for Urban Ecology teaching children about environmental design
The Humber Arboretum Centre for Urban Ecology is a visionary building that provides a space to teach children about the importance of environmental design. Emphasizing the sustainable interaction of a building and its human inhabitants, with nature and its biodiversity, The Humber Arboretum Centre promotes the advancement of technology in service of the preservation of the natural world, and was one of the first buildings in Toronto to receive a Gold LEED certification.
The architectural goal of the project was to create an assertive, modern, green building which would signal a change in values with respect to sustainable development and energy conservation. It uses materials and forms that would communicate architectural and engineering ideas for future institutional, commercial and residential designs to a wide range of visitors. It is, in essence, a living laboratory.
The mandate of the 5,000 sq ft building is to show a path to a much better future through unity of architecture and landscape – this is metaphorically implied in the journey to the building itself. You must reach the building by foot, with the parking lot situated some distance away. Walking up the pedestrian path, glimpses of the building and its high performance glass envelope, also allow for a view directly through to the landscape beyond.
