PFS Studio collaborated with Westbank, Henriquez Partners Architects, and the Mirvish Village Task Group to complete the vision for the New Mirvish Village Park. The design takes inspiration from the iconic Honest Ed’s signage, with its brightly-lit filigrees and swirls, to create a space resembling the formal ‘jardin à la française’ found in France.
Within the new Mirvish Village redevelopment in Toronto’s Annex will be a new signature open space inspired by the site’s colourful history. The existing site was once the famed Ed Mirvish’s ‘Honest Eds’ – a cultural landmark to Torontonians since 1948. The swirls and filigrees organize the site into a series of garden rooms, which accommodate a variety of active and passive programs. The park is nestled between and responds to different edge conditions— a residential lane, a new private development, and a vibrant pedestrian mews.
Ed Mirvish was known for his saying, “for the birds, cheep cheep cheep”. Mirvish Village Park pays playful homage to this through a planting palette that supports local bird species, as well as a signature water feature – bird bath that contributes soft ambient sound to the garden experience. The bird bath is a central element which ties together the various garden rooms and enhances views to a new landmark public art.