Happy World Environment Day from our team at Moriyama Teshima Architects! We are conscious of the fact that our industry has a major impact on the vitality of our collective future, and that we as designers have a critical responsibility to promote longevity, minimize carbon emissions, and use resources efficiently in our work.

Pictured is the Rouge National Urban Park Visitor, Learning, and Community Centre, a project designed by our firm with Two Row Architect, that will reinvigorate an existing brownfield site and draw community members to this stunning outdoor area. Spanning the cities of Toronto, Markham and Pickering, and the Township of Uxbridge, Rouge National Urban Park is a protected area in the heart of our country’s largest urban centre, that connects to a larger network of vital green spaces throughout Southern Ontario.

Aligning with the federal Greening Government Strategy, the project will be net-zero, using no fossil fuels in its operation. It will also target Toronto Green Standards Tier 2, water consumption reductions, significant embodied carbon reductions through the employment of mass timber structure and timber cladding, and optimized energy efficiency using a very high-performing building envelope.