Ward’s Island Terminal
Architecture Studio IV

Prof. Maria Denegri
Project Partner: Haiqa Nisar
Toronto, ON, Canada

Jul-Aug, 2018

Ferries leave Toronto’s harbour every day with their decks pointed towards the city’s expansive islands, though they arrive at their island terminals with significantly less grandeur than the picturesque boat ride itself. This project imagines a Ward’s Island Ferry Terminal that leans out over Toronto’s waters as a monumental gateway, rising gently out of the landscape to a sharp edge that imitates the geoidal qualities of a cliff. The island is sliced through and raised at a slow angle, then hollowed out to accommodate tourists and residents going through the terminal. Passengers experience a choreography from the closed ferry tunnel that releases them to the island’s greenery, which continues onto the roof and seamlessly bounds the concrete structure with the landscape.