IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO
HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
140-150 BOROUGH DRIVE
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DESIGNATE
THE PROPERTY
TAKE NOTICE that Council for the
City of Toronto intends to designate the property, including the lands, buildings
and structures thereon known municipally as 140-150 Borough Drive under Part
IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.O.18, as amended, as
a property of cultural heritage value or interest.
Reasons for Designation
The property at 140-150 Borough Drive is worthy
of designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its
cultural heritage value and meets Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria
prescribed for municipal designation.
Description
Located on the north side of Borough Drive,
northeast of Brimley Road and Ellesmere Road in the Scarborough district of
Toronto, the property at 140-150 Borough Drive contains the Scarborough Civic
Centre. Completed in 1973 as a purpose-built shared facility, it features a
striking multi-faceted composition comprised of a circular central core with
four extending quadrant, two massive half-pyramid forms and two open civic
spaces. A network of planned and existing pedestrian walkways encircles the
Scarborough Civic Centre and connects it to its pedestrian context and to the
nearby collection of residential and office buildings. To the east of the
southeast quadrant is a building serving as the Toronto Public Health -
Scarborough Clinic (1973), which is connected to the Civic Centre by a covered
walkway. The Scarborough Clinic was part of the linear expansion system
and sympathetic in design and materials with the main building.
The art created for the Scarborough Civic Centre
is by James Sutherland, including the public art piece entitled 21 Points in
Equilibrium (1973) and nine acrylic-on-canvas graphic artworks (1973)
intended as wayfinding markers for the various municipal departments.
In the mid-1990s Albert Campbell Square was
modified to allow for public accessibility and safety improvements and the
addition of an outdoor stage, which are all complementary in design to the
original design intent. Immediately south of the southeast quadrant is the
Scarborough Centre Branch Public Library completed in 2015 and the Civic Green
landscape, which provides a fully accessible connection to the Scarborough
Civic Centre from Borough Drive.
In 1975, Albert Campbell Square was awarded the
Vincent Massey Award for Excellence in the Urban Environment for outstanding
achievement for its public space design.
Statement of Cultural
Heritage Value
Design and Physical Value
The building’s distinct Modern Expressionist character continues into
the interior in which its spatial arrangement is organized through shape and
volume. The interior is arranged around a large, open central atrium, on either
side of which are segments of a larger circle. Both contain balconies at each
level, marking open-concept offices in the wings that open into and curve
around the atrium, allowing for visual continuity from one side of the building
to the other at all floor levels and providing an unstructured common or social
space conceived to reflect the increased democratization of civic government.
The southwest wing steps forward over four cantilevered floors at variable
amounts of 6, 11 and 16 feet, while the five-storey northeast wing floor levels
step back at 15-foot intervals. At the south end of the central core the
circular "Meeting Hall' (or Council Chamber) is set a half level below
grade. The atrium was conceived as
interior public space and the extension of Albert Campbell Square.
Landscape features integral to the overall design include Albert
Campbell Square, an open-plan, outdoor civic space, and the landscaped
Ceremonial Plaza on the south elevation, as well as an intentional network of
pedestrian walkways that surrounds and forms part of the Scarborough Civic
Centre site.
The Scarborough Civic Centre further demonstrates a high degree of
artistic merit through a collaborative approach with design, art, and landscape
architecture which results in a monumental complex that is sensitive to the
human-scale experience. Its artistic merit also lies in the use of
architectural elements and landscape design to express civic participation,
government transparency and community ideals in a visible symbolic manner. This
is achieved through its multi-faceted composition that uses bold geometric
shapes, accentuated by open public spaces, public art and art as wayfinding
markers, and the organization of the interior through shape, volume, and
colour. Involved in the collaborative process was architect Raymond Moriyama,
landscape architect Bon Mueller and artist James Sutherland. In 1975, Albert
Campbell Square was awarded the Vincent Massey Award for Excellence in the
Urban Environment for outstanding achievement for its public space design.
Historical/Associative
Value
The Scarborough Civic Centre was purpose-built
jointly for the Borough of Scarborough and Scarborough Board of Education and
was one of the principal components of the original 1968 Scarborough Town
Centre Master Plan for a 170-acre superblock that established a
new urban centre and anchor for the Borough of Scarborough. The Master Plan
intended to establish a new mixed-use urban centre and a focal point for
business, cultural, social, recreational and governmental uses. The defining
components of the original Master Plan, a private-public venture, included a
new Town (commercial) Centre and Civic (municipal) Centre, and the connection
between the two through a planned pedestrian walkway. Both the Scarborough
Civic Centre and the Scarborough Town Centre shopping mall opened in
1973.
The Scarborough Civic Centre was also
designed as public space, intended to foster and strengthen community
connection and identity, and to support civic engagement.
Contextual Value
The Scarborough Civic Centre at 140-150 Borough
Drive is valued for its role in defining, maintaining and supporting the
character of the Scarborough civic precinct as an important civic,
institutional, cultural, and community hub for the Scarborough district of
Toronto. As the seat of local government and space for active citizenship and
community gathering, the Scarborough Civic Centre building and open spaces
contribute to the civic character of the precinct.
Constructed in 1973, as the result of urban
planning initiatives of the 1960s that envisioned the area as the new vibrant,
well-connected, and mixed-use urban centre for Scarborough, the property at
140-150 Borough Drive was one of the principal components of the 1968
Scarborough Town Centre Master Plan and was constructed concurrently with the
Scarborough Town Centre mall (completed in 1973) designed by Bregman &
Hamann Architects to the north of Albert Campbell Square via a planned and
existing pedestrian walkway. As one of the first buildings to be constructed in
the precinct, the property at 140-150 Borough Drive spurred development
interest and growth in the new Town Centre.
To the south of Borough Drive is a designated
Natural Area known as the Frank Faubert Wood lot, a prominent forested area and
the Hand of God Park, both of which were retained within the design scheme for
the Scarborough Civic Centre to provide a buffer and setting for the subject
property.
Heritage Attributes
Design and Physical Value
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the cultural heritage value of the subject property as being a unique example
of Modern Expressionism with a high degree of artistic merit:
Exterior
·
The spatial
configuration of the property with its multi-faceted plan that includes a
circular central core with two half-pyramid shaped office wings on the
northwest and southeast quadrants and two wedge-shaped outdoor open spaces on
the northeast and southwest quadrants
·
The scale, form, and
massing of the main building with a 4-storey northwest wing, 5-storey southeast
wing, and 5-storey central core with two enclosed concrete elevator towers and
two concrete columns flanking the entrances from Albert Campbell Square and the
Ceremonial Plaza
·
The materiality,
including concrete, white aluminum cladding with a fluorocarbon finish, dark
reflective glazing set in dark metal framing, and polished metal
·
All the existing
window arrangements and dark glazing found throughout the building
·
The circular window
opening on the southeast wing fronting Albert Campbell Square
·
The concrete
cantilevered canopies above the entrances to the building from Albert Campbell
Square and the Ceremonial Plaza
·
The bronze plaque
from the Massey Foundation on the southeast wing facing Albert Campbell Square
Interior
·
The full-height open
volume of the interior space with unobstructed views of the tiered balconies,
their staircases, and open plan at each level
·
The wide pebbled
concrete stairways providing access between the first and second levels
·
The stepped, sunken
circular areas at the southeast of the central space
·
The interior pond
·
The white-on-white
colour scheme of the interior space and the polished concrete flooring
·
The circular pattern
of the ceiling with inset lighting
Landscape and Circulation Features
Albert Campbell Square
·
The open public space
of the square with its sunken plaza and surrounding concrete steps
·
The rectangular
reflecting pond (also known as the skating rink) with a chamfered edge and
waterfall feature, accessed by concrete steps to the south and west and its
concrete retaining wall to the north
·
The grove of trees to
its east with original Wiarton tiles
·
The campanile in
polished metal with three circular voids in Albert Campbell Square
Landscaped Ceremonial Plaza
·
The open landscaped
green space and the slight rise in topography
·
The original pathway
adjoining the east parking lot, a circular concrete plaza with built-in
concrete seating, and grove of trees to the west
Pathways and Walkways
·
The network of
pathways, including the pathway connecting Albert Campbell Square north to the
commercial centre
·
The circumferential
walkway around the Civic Centre building
Historical and
Associative Value
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the cultural heritage value of the subject property as being directly
associated with the original 1968 Scarborough Town Centre Master Plan:
·
The setback,
placement and orientation of the property in relation to Borough Drive (a ring
road), and the Town Centre shopping mall to the north
·
The spatial
configuration and interrelationship of the Civic Centre with its outdoor open
spaces (Albert Campbell Square and Ceremonial Plaza) to the other main
components of the Master Plan (Town Centre mall, ring road, pedestrian walkway)
Attributes that contribute to the cultural
heritage value of the subject property as being demonstrative of the work of
Raymond Moriyama:
·
The prominent
structure with a multi-faceted plan with a circular central core and four
extending quadrants, including two massive office wings and two open spaces
·
The design elements
including the application of symbolism to architectural elements such as the
circular window opening on the southeast wing, the distinctive half-pyramid
shaped office wings, the organization of the interior through shape and volume,
including open unobstructed spaces
Contextual Value
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the cultural heritage value of the subject property as supporting and
maintaining the character of the area and as being historically linked to its
surroundings:
·
The placement and
orientation of the property on the north side of Borough Drive, east of Brimley
Road
·
The spatial
configuration and interrelationship of the Civic Centre with its outdoor open
spaces (Albert Campbell Square and Ceremonial Plaza) and to the other main
component of the Master Plan, the Town Centre Mall to the north, connected by a
planned and existing pedestrian walkway
·
The monumental scale
and form of the prominent structure with its multi-faceted plan with a circular
central core and four extending quadrants - two massive half-pyramid shaped
office wings and two open spaces
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the cultural heritage value of the subject property as a landmark:
·
The Civic Centre
building and its outdoor open spaces. Through its orientation and location
within the Civic District, the prominence of the building with the monumental
scale and form of the two half-pyramid shaped wings, is accentuated by and made
visible from its open landscaped spaces, Albert Campbell Square and the
Ceremonial Plaza with Civic Green
Notice of Objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate
Notice of an objection to the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property may be served on the City Clerk, Attention:
Registrar Secretariat, City Clerk's Office, Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor West,
100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2.; Email: RegistrarCCO@toronto.ca within thirty (30) days
of February 4, 2026, which is March 6, 2026. The notice of objection to the
Notice of Intention to Designate the Property must set out the reason(s) for
the objection and all relevant facts.
Getting Additional Information:
Further information in respect of the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property is available from the City of Toronto at:
https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.PH27.15.
Dated at the City of Toronto on February 4, 2026.
John D. Elvidge
City Clerk