Re-Surfacing

Reclaiming Public Infrastructure in Suburban Apartment Neighbourhoods

Cooksville, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

The current ground plane conditions in suburban apartment neighbourhoods are dominated by surface parking and vehicular access roads. While densely populated, these neighbourhoods are typically poorly served by retail and recreation facilities. This project explores the idea of using structured parking to urbanize apartment neighbourhoods by consolidating the existing parking into decks and freeing up the land for further infill development. The main floors of the decks are programmed with anchor retail such as a market, while the rooftops are programmed with sport opportunities such as hockey or a running track. The existing residential density of the apartment neighbourhood community is further supported by the introduction of a mixture of uses. By linking the existing apartment towers and new infill construction via a street and pedestrian pathways, the neighbourhood takes on a new legibility and sense of community.