Photo: Cam Collyer
Evergreen Brick Works
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Year
2010 - 2020
Illustration: Evergreen
Photo: Cam Collyer
Evergreen Brick Works is a revitalization of a former Brick factory located in the heart of Toronto's Don Valley
Revitalization
Cam Collyer was a core member of the Executive Team of Evergreen throughout the visioning, design, construction, opening and first 10 years of operating Evergreen Brick Works.
Cam co-led the design of the award-winning Children’s Garden and led the design of all Children’s Programs including camps, visiting schools, clubs and weekend free play staffed by trained playworkers. The project was sustained through an evolving mix of fundraising, partnerships and social enterprise that demanded strong public programming mixed with both public and private events. A strong core of volunteers was developed to simultaneously engage the public and expand public programming beyond staff capacity.
The site has become a cultural touchstone in Toronto due to its unique location, the beautiful architectural and landscape design that embraced the industrial heritage of the site, and innovative public programs that hadn’t been seen in Toronto before.
Photo: Evergreen
Photo: Evergreen
Photo: Evergreen
Photo: Cam Collyer
Photo: Evergreen
Photo: Cam Collyer
Photo: Cam Collyer
The art of place
Large-scale installations by artist Ferruccio Sardella create a sense of place and encourage visitors to appreciate the natural wonders of the Don Valley.
Watershed Consciousness, Toronto’s largest living map is an iconic living wall that greets guests as they enter the Evergreen Brick Works. The larger than life living work is made of Corten steel, copper, brass, water and plants, and looks different in each season as it responds to the changing conditions of its environment.
Native Tenants, two sculptural representations of native plants blossoming through the walls of the transformed brick factory at Evergreen Brickworks, are symbolic of the effects to bring nature back to a formerly derelict industrial ruins.
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Photo: Cam Collyer