Guelph Market Square
For the past dozen years, the people of Guelph have been remaking the historic administrative core of their downtown. The project began with the construction of the New City Hall designed by Moriyama & Teshima Architects, and incorporating a 19th-century wall from a building that housed the original Royal Winter Fair, before the Fair moved to Toronto. The Old City Hall was transformed into the Provincial Courthouse through a restoration award-winning effort by Goldsmith, Borgal and Company Architects.
The new Guelph Market Square unifies the open area and street in front of both buildings, creating a multi-functional space, bounded by the Courthouse, City Hall and a pre-confederation block of buildings across the street. The whole composition is presided over by the Basilica of our Lady that sits high on the hill a couple blocks to the west. The new endeavor has received many awards and honours.
The design team of Janet Rosenberg & Studio (landscape architects) and RDH Architects (Pavilion Architecture) conceived of the Market Square as a public rallying place that could be adapted to a variety of uses throughout the year. The curvilinear ground forms contrast with the precise rectilinear lines of the 19th-century limestone walls that surround the space. The largest oval is reserved for the central water feature that is used for wading on hot summer days and can be drained for events such as markets and concerts. In winter months, it becomes a skating rink. This oval is ringed by stainless steel “torch forms” that spout water during the summer and glitter and reflect light the remainder of the time. The next largest oval is reserved for a unique urban glass pavilion that provides a general seating area, refuge from the elements, a change room, an accessible washroom, public lockers, space for a Zamboni machine and equipment for the ice rink, and a splash pad. The remaining interlocking ovals and shapes encompass planting beds, earth mounds, trees and white textured concrete seating. LED lighting, a sound system and the natural scents and fragrances from plants and flowers complete the immersive environment of the space.
I walk into the Square from the east, where the 19th century train station, now Guelph Central Station intermodal hub, mingles municipal buses with GO-trains and long-range buses, Via Rail and Greyhound. I am immediately struck by the consistency of the pavement. The square is subtly divided into pedestrian, street and parking by means of differing paving stone patterns, textures and colour, accented by concrete curbs, walks and stainless steel drainage and tree grates. Some of the pavement is bordered to help shape the natural green elements into a homogeneous composition. The cool colours of the paving contrast effectively with the warm limestone of the building walls.
On this cold winter day, the ice oval is populated by skaters of all ages. There are large sheets of black hockey rink mats covering the concrete pavers between the pavilion and the ice surface. These mats protect the interlocking paving stones from wear but more importantly they prevent damage to skate blades and tripping hazards to skaters. The pavilion floor is a resilient polished concrete. Taken together, the flooring acts as a pleasing, consistent and resilient surface to the square and pavilion