Q4A completely transformed the former Mount Pleasant Station rail lands from a barren landscape surrounded by a commuter railway line into a vibrant, thriving village. The mixed-use nature of Mount Pleasant Village was designed to create a real neighbourhood with more that 1200 homes.
Mount Pleasant Village
Mount Pleasant Village is a visionary project, in Brampton, a suburb in the Greater Toronto Area. Livable and focused on transit, the site is intentionally human-scaled and walkable, with a strong architectural character and community feel.
The village surrounds a unique public square that is encircled by civic buildings and Live/Work ‘main street’ units: a unique freehold building typology with street-level commercial spaces and two-storey apartment living above.
The design for the village main street has evolved from a well-studied urban configuration that it allows for full access to commercial spaces, enclosed lay-by parking, and a thoughtfully designed and well-lit loggia to shelter shoppers and commuters. The physical connection of the residential units above and surrounding the plaza directly connects residents to their community and the activities that define it.
One of Ontario’s first Transit Oriented Developments (TOD) and Smart Growth developments, both the municipality and their development partner aimed to create a landmark, precedent setting project which went far beyond traditional suburban planning.
Contrary to many suburban greenfield developments, Mount Pleasant Village is designed as a compact and walkable neighborhood supported by a mix of transit infrastructure.
Drawing on the Inspiration of Jane Jacobs’ New Urbanist principles, and lessons learned from long-established neighbourhoods such as Toronto’s Cabbagetown and Leslieville, Q4A designed MPV with an eclectic mix of architectural styles and more intimate densities which create “eyes on the street” and secure incredibly comfortable spaces for everyday living. This allowed for the creation of a safer community, but also one that promotes interaction amongst neighbours and the creation of community social capital.
This sense of community is also enhanced by the presence of mixed-use Live/Work units which allow local entrepreneurs the opportunity to setup locally supportive businesses.
Brampton has gone through many demographic changes over its history. Initial planning considered that MPV would be a bedroom community to Toronto, supported by GO train access to Union Station. Over the development of the project, however, it became clear that MPV would be much more culturally and economically diverse and should be more self-supportive for people that worked within Brampton/Peel.
As such alternative, more affordable housing types such as Live/Work units, higher-density mid-rise condominiums, and back-to-back townhomes were introduced.
MPV’s local character also allowed for Brampton’s first “urban, walkable school” which does not rely on bussing. Mount Pleasant Village is a true Transit Oriented Development situated on the GO Train and Bus lines connecting Downtown Toronto to Guelph and Kitchener.
The final project is a fascinating, award-winning architectural study, promoting creative, studied and responsible growth within an urban and suburban context.
Union at Mount Pleasant Village
Winner of the 2023 Brampton Urban Design Award, this is the first high-density development in Mount Pleasant Village. Union is a community-defining architectural project that captures the future of Brampton as a family-oriented, multicultural hub that is enveloped by a strong sense of place.
Formally, the project is comprised of a 6-storey steel and concrete condominium building, housing 159 units, plus one level of underground parking and 100 stacked and rear-lane townhouses. The site is near the Canadian National Railway lines and Mount Pleasant Go station, providing direct access to multi-modal regional transportation.
This extends to nearby access for Brampton Transit and ZÜM bus lines, as well as major highway sand thoroughfares.
As the surrounding areas are expected to densify and further grow in the coming years, Union is poised as a precedent-setting project, acting as a series of blocks that are emblematic of the region’s vision as an inclusive, truly livable hub.
Union offers a variety of unit-types and housing models that invite a diverse resident-base to live within a creative series of buildings that connect to the existing village.
Through a series of intentional design decisions, the entire site is richly textured, with strong materiality and bold expressions of colour.
This approach allows the building’s footprint and mass to be articulated and broken down at a human scale, in a manner that is not imposing for residents or the greater community.
The resulting whimsy and textural mosaic create a welcoming framework that characterizes the community as a whole. It was paramount to the design team that the different buildings interplay with one another, creating visual variety, but unity in appearance and scale.
All blocks are anchored by a new park and play structure that was designed within a courtyard-like setting. This serves the dual function of acting as a “backyard” for the site population, bringing residents together, while representing the cultural fabric of the area, with norms that deeply value outdoor spaces for gatherings.
It is noteworthy that the innovation goes far beyond planning and materiality, with creative elements such as louvered balconies that make outdoor spaces uniquely “all season”, a trend this project prototypes for many more Canadian communities.
Wall panels were prefabricated, and shipped to the site for installation, with building elevations carefully detailed at an early stage of production, to maintain the highest level of quality control at the time of fabrication.
These prefabricated panels maintain consistency in the construction of the exterior walls through material transitions, providing a weather-tight envelope with high energy efficiency and protection from moisture, water, and thermal bridging. The entire project achieves 15%, or better, than the energy performance standards of the Ontario Building Code for Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing, one of the most stringent international standards.
Working closely with the municipality’s urban designers, this series of buildings complete the village’s original design with red-brick references and a pedestrian scale. The final project respectfully increases density and anchors the area as a gateway and successful reference for future development in the Brampton region.
