City of Toronto

The Spirit Garden in Nathan Phillips Square — recipient of the 2025 Canadian Wood Council Wood Design & Building Award, as well as an Award of Excellence from the Toronto Urban Design Awards — is part of the City’s revitalization of its landmark civic space at New City Hall. As part of the improvements, a new Teaching, Learning, Sharing, and Healing space was designed and constructed to recognize and honour the experience of Indian Residential School Survivors.

The Nathan Phillips Square Spirit Garden responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s ‘Call to Action 82’, establishing a permanent monument in Canada’s largest city. Spanning 20,650 ft2, this living memorial honours Indian Residential School Survivors and the children who never returned home, creating a powerful civic space for education, reflection, and healing. The project integrates Indigenous knowledge, ceremony, and storytelling into a new Teaching, Learning, Sharing, and Healing space, signifying Toronto’s ongoing commitment to reconciliation.

HH Angus played a central technical role in the cultural and contemplative space, providing mechanical and electrical engineering, security systems consulting, IMIT design, and commissioning. The project included new landscaping, a water feature, a major public artwork installation, and a new Teaching, Learning, Sharing, and Healing space.

Our scope also included a full technical audit and inventory report to document all infrastructure and equipment impacted by the project; power supply for new landscape and other LED lighting fixtures; connection of new area drainage to existing storm systems in the parking level; mechanical and electrical services for the new 450 ft2 Teaching Lodge; and design of security systems for public spaces and the Teaching Lodge.

The exposed wood structure of the Teaching Lodge required exceptionally close coordination between the structural consultant and our mechanical and electrical teams, as service penetrations could not be modified after fabrication. The Teaching Lodge uses pre-formed laminated ash glulam timber and laminated spruce sheathing, both sustainably sourced, to create a resilient and expressive structure.

HH Angus also developed and prepared a commissioning plan for all mechanical and electrical equipment being installed during the project.

One of the interesting challenges of this project was working with multiple interested parties to ensure the collaborative vision of all rights holders for the project was achieved.

The Spirit Garden was delivered through sustained and respectful collaboration with Indigenous communities, ensuring that cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and lived experience were central to the project’s design and execution. Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Keepers, artists, and community representatives were engaged by the City of Toronto and the design team throughout the planning and design process to guide the project’s cultural vision, symbolism, and spatial organization.