gh3: Located at the centre of Sheridan College’s new campus, the Scholars’ Green is a symbiosis of public park and academic common that provides rich outdoor amenity for students, faculty and the surrounding community. Ordered by a criss crossing circulation system, a modern take on Harvard Yard, it both pays homage to the collegial landscape while providing an ‘everybody-everywhere’ lattice of paths that seamlessly connect the park to its surrounds. Lined with allées of columnar beech, the park’s facets contain variously: micro-forests; teaching amphitheaters; grass quadrangles; outdoor cafés; and public squares. Effectively a series of discreet outdoor rooms, Scholars’ Green fulfills a need, in a neighborhood undergoing densification, for a safe and quiet refuge for individuals and small groups of all ages.

Materials like permeable recycled glass paving and glow–in–the–dark concrete patterns compliment extensive plantings and pedestrian/cyclist infrastructure to help make the park an inspiring combination of sustainable and innovative design. The park is anchored at the north by a geometric light-filled pavilion in mirror stainless steel. The pavilion and adjacent gathering area provides a venue for exhibits, sales, etc. that would be too small for City Hall, serving as a new hub for both academic and neighborhood events. Scholars’ Green is a landmark green landscape that contributes to and embraces the City of Mississauga’s high standards of urban design within its core.

Landscape Architecture: gh3
Name: Scholars’ Green Park
Location: Mississauga, ON
Design Year: 2010-2011
Construction Year: 2011-2012
Area: 1.2 ha
Budget: $3.0 million CAD
Client: City of Mississauga
Construction drawings and management: Terraplan Landscape Architects
Contractor: Aldershot Landscape Contractors Ltd.
Pavilion fabricators: Soheil Mosun Ltd.
Image credits: gh3, Terraplan
Awards: 2012 Mississauga Urban Design Award of Excellence