TTC required a new Bus Garage in North Scarborough to expand their capacity due to increased ridership and improving transit services. The new 312,000 sf garage can store and maintain 250 40-foot vehicles, including new articulated buses. The facility includes heated storage, two nightly services lanes each with two services bays, a special clean lane, maintenance garage and administrative office and support areas.
Significant sustainability features were included in the design, such as a large SolarWall collector system and 100,000 sf green roof, which meets the Toronto Green Standard and enables the facility to generate 5% of its energy usage on site. The McNicoll Bus Garage was TTC’s 8th bus garage, and sets a new standard for TTC’s maintenance facilities. The project was TTC’s first design-build and the first project undertaken in BIM.
- Location
- Toronto, ON
- Completion Status
- 2020
- Client
- Toronto Transit Commission
- Surface Size
- 312,100 sf
- Awards
- Metal Architecture Judges Award 2020; OGCA Builder Award – Group 5 Industrial 2022
- Key Personnel
- Shawn Strasman, Liz Soo-Strasman
- Project Types
- Transit, Industrial, Design-Build
TTC identified two main goals for the facility – an engaging design that was sensitive to the community, and an exemplar facility in energy efficiency. Both these goals were achieved through the use of metal cladding on the majority of the building façade. The facility’s exterior design which was driven in large part by the SolarWall collector system on the South & West exterior walls. Black metal cladding with the same profile was used on the East side to create a consistent exterior design. This created a large black canvas which is punctuated with strip windows as well as a red metal accent line running continuously from the main portion of the facility which continues up along the canopy structure on the south side of the facility and to the east tying the building components together. The SolarWall system creates a presence on the street and enables the facility to meet the Toronto Green Standard and generate 5% of on-site energy needs through renewable sources.
