Cloud Gardens

Cloud Gardens is a small park in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located between Yonge Street and Bay Street, stretching from the south side of Richmond Street to the north side of Temperance Street. The park covers an area of 0.6 acres, which is about 2,400 meters squared.

Right now, Cloud Gardens is closed because it is being repaired and rebuilt. People who visit downtown Toronto can look forward to seeing the park when it reopens and becomes a nice place to relax and enjoy the outdoors again. For those interested, there is also a video game with the same name: Cloud Gardens (video game).

Origin

The land for Cloud Gardens was given to the city in the 1980s. This happened as part of an agreement that let the Bay Adelaide Centre be taller than usual rules allowed. The people who built the building gave a small piece of land to the city and spent a lot of money to create a park there.

Landscape design and art

The park was designed by Baird Sampson Neuert Architects, the MBTW Group/Watchorn Architects, and two artists, Margaret Priest and Tony Scherman. In the western part, you can find paths with trees around a curved lawn. The eastern part has walkways that go up to a waterfall. There is also a monument for Toronto's construction workers, made by Margaret Priest with help from the Building Trades Union. It shows different building trades, like steel rebars and wiring.

The park’s special feature is a small greenhouse that mimics a cool, moist forest. You can walk from the lower entrance to an upper exit near the waterfall. Cloud Gardens earned Baird Sampson Architects a Governor General's Architecture Award.

Construction

The park was closed in November 2018 to fix the waterproofing underneath. It is expected to reopen in 2026 once a new building nearby is finished.