KPMB co-leads tour of renewed University of Toronto St. George campus

September 25, 2025

On the evening of September 23rd, KPMB founding partner Shirley Blumberg and associate Nick Jones, along with Brook McIlroy principal Calvin Brook, associate Danny Roy, and senior associate Luke Mollet, gave the public a behind-the-scenes look at a pair of landscape projects that have renewed the University of Toronto’s 200-year-old St. George Campus. The walking tour was organized and led by the Toronto Society of Architects (TSA).  

Blumberg and Jones guided attendees through the Landscape of Landmark Quality Project — one of the largest landscape infrastructure projects in Canada. Led by KPMB with landscape design by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA), the project has revitalized 17-acres of campus landscapes between Hoskin Avenue and College Street.  

The Landmark Project entailed redesigning landscapes, improving accessibility, and limiting vehicular access to the campus core. The now pedestrianized space was made possible by relocating surface parking to an underground lot below the lawn of King’s College Circle, accessed via a transparent pavilion designed by KPMB.  

Visitors also glimpsed a significant infrastructure upgrade hidden below the lawn: one of the largest geothermal systems in Canada. The system provides sustainable heating and hot water to older buildings on campus and is expected to reduce the university’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by 15,000 metric tons annually.  

Brook, Roy, and Mollet toured visitors through Ziibiing: an adjoining multi-use greenspace designed by Brook McIlroy’s Indigenous Design Studio and landscape architecture team. It is intended for learning, gathering, and ceremonies with a design that draws on cultural elements significant to many Indigenous communities. Ziibiing is one of the University of Toronto’s responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.  

Learn more about the Landmark Project.

(Lead image credit: Kurtis Chen, courtesy of TSA)