The RC Harris Water Treatment Plant is an imperative piece of water filtration infrastructure as well as an architecturally acclaimed historic site of Toronto. Situated on a challenging site, I was asked to propose a Water Education Centre and a Public Pool Facility that would recognize and respond to the historic character of the site. 

The Water Education Centre at the north responds to a sensitivity of existing vegetation, recognizing existing topography, and generating a catalyst to bring people from the street to the core of the site.

The Pool facility provides a place to swim within, but also presents a means to access the waterfront, which was neglected before. Together the buildings portray a changing role of water on the site: instructional, infrastructural, and finally recreational. 

With a site of this scale, in both proposals, it was imperative that the design act as a formal gesture towards elements of the site. This was visually and physically evident through one formal kink in the design, using the Filter Building as a dimensional constraint. The facility allows the RC Harris site to act as the terminal site for the Toronto Beaches, opening the facility up to a greater urban context.