September 15, 2026

Waterworks receives an Honourable Mention in the urban design category of Fast Company's 2026 Innovation by Design Awards, recognizing the year's most inventive design solutions across categories including architecture and social good.

In a dense district where population growth has outpaced local amenities, Waterworks repositions a 350,000 sf former industrial complex as a permeable, mixed-use destination, weaving housing, wellness, food, and public space into a resilient neighbourhood framework that strengthens everyday life for the surrounding community.

The design preserves the original Art Deco waterworks structure, including its skylit Machine Hall, reimagined as a food hall and retail destination. A network of new pedestrian connections opens the site along Richmond Street, through an internal courtyard, and south to the rejuvenated St. Andrew's Playground Park, turning a single building into connective infrastructure and increasing permeability, walkability, and access across the block. Above and within the restored heritage base, the programme combines a two-storey YMCA, family-oriented housing that includes affordable units, and an existing youth shelter. Together, this mix supports daily life across age groups and income levels rather than functioning as a standalone development.

Architectural, social, and urban design innovation operate together throughout the project, responding to a key challenge: accommodating rapid residential intensification while restoring meaningful public access, social infrastructure, and neighbourhood identity.

Waterworks is one of eight projects honoured in the urban design category this year.
View the full list of Innovation by Design Award winners on Fast Company.

The project has also been recognized with a 2025 ULI Americas Award for Excellence, a 2025 Toronto Urban Design Award, and a 2024 AIA Canada Society Urban Design Award of Merit, among others.