The Landmark Project wins 2025 METROPOLIS Planet Positive Award

October 27, 2025

The Landscape of Landmark Quality Project at the University of Toronto has won the “Landscape” category in the 2025 METROPOLIS Planet Positive Awards. The annual awards program from the New York-based magazine recognizes excellence in sustainable and healthy design.  

Led by KPMB with landscape design by Michael Van Valkenburgh Architects (MVVA), the Landmark Project is among the largest landscape infrastructure initiatives in recent Canadian memory. The project, completed in 2024, has reclaimed 17 acres of the downtown Toronto campus as an accessible and welcoming green hub by removing surface parking, pedestrianizing campus spaces, and reimagining its landscapes. 

As part of the project, Canada’s largest urban geothermal system was installed beneath the lawn of King’s College Circle. This sustainable heating and cooling system reduces the University’s greenhouse gas emissions by 15,000 metric tons annually, making it the single largest contributor to its ongoing carbon reduction efforts. In 2023 and 2024, the University of Toronto was named the world’s most sustainable university by QS World University Rankings. 

The 2025 METROPOLIS Planet Positive Awards were judged by Avinash Rajagopal, editor-in-chief of METROPOLIS; Carson Chan, curator in the Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Architecture and Design; Tanya Eagle, director and sustainable buildings lead at JLL; Vivian Loftness, researcher and professor at Carnegie Mellon University; and Vicki Worden, president and CEO of Green Building Initiative Inc. 

The METROPOLIS Planet Positive Award is the latest accolade for the Landmark Project. In September, the Toronto Urban Design Awards (TUDA) commended the project with an Award of Merit.  

Read more about the 2025 METROPOLIS Planet Positive Awards. 

(Lead image credit: Yianni Tong, courtesy of the Toronto Society of Architects.)