Sheridan Campus Master Plan

Sheridan is one of Ontario’s leading postsecondary schools, serving over 23,000 full-time students and 35,000 continuing education students at three campuses in the western Greater Toronto Area. Sheridan has campuses in Oakville (Trafalgar), Brampton (Davis), and Mississauga (HMC). The Trafalgar and Davis campuses are situated in more suburban settings and each campus consists of approximately 100 acres of land owned by Sheridan. HMC is located in downtown Mississauga on lands leased from the City of Mississauga, with adjacent lands owned by the City of Mississauga and Oxford Properties.

Campus Master Plan (2019 – 2020)
From 2019 to 2020, Urban Strategies worked with an interdisciplinary team to complete campus master plans for Sheridan’s three Greater Toronto Area campuses. The Campus Master Plans, tailored to each unique campus location in Oakville, Brampton and Mississauga, provide a comprehensive physical vision and flexible planning and decision-making framework to guide Sheridan’s growth over the next 25 years. The Plans are key tool to support Sheridan as a competitive academic institution that attracts students, faculty, and staff, while cultivating health and wellness, inclusivity, and a more sustainable campus environment.

The Master Plan creates opportunities for inspiring spaces to learn, teach, work, collaborate and innovate. Fresh directions for growth and change were grounded in extensive analysis of existing building condition and suitability for various programs, reflective of Sheridan’s commitment to sustainability, and responsive to extensive consultation with Sheridan faculty, staff and students. While the plans reflect the unique aspects of each of the campuses built form and organizational structure, Urban Strategies based the collection of Plans on a common set of goals, which were aligned to Sheridan’s strategic objectives. The overarching goals grounded the work to ensure the final outcomes were reflective of Sheridan’s aspirations for the physical evolution of its campuses. The plans include a vision for each campus as well as direction for updated street and block networks; connectivity, mobility and parking; open space network; use precincts and built form as well as phasing.

Fletcher’s Creek Enhancement Strategy (2020 – Present)
As part of Sheridan’s prioritization of sustainability goals, one of the first implementation projects for Davis campus was a landscape-driven master plan intended to guide the remediation of an on-site pond and creek. Urban Strategies is leading a multidisciplinary consultant team to produce a detailed enhancement strategy for the valley and Natural Heritage lands to conserve important species and wildlife habitats, enhance learning, teaching and placemaking/ placekeeping opportunities. The Fletcher’s Creek design and planning process is intended to: Establish a vision for the study area that addresses sustainability, inclusivity, and wellness through engagement and an understanding of site conditions; Create a landscape design and management strategy informed by expertise that will address opportunities and challenges; Create a series of actionable projects forming the Enhancement Strategy Develop a sequencing strategy to understand the logical phasing and implementation of the plan.

Trafalgar Campus (2020 – 2021)
Urban Strategies, along with a multi-disciplinary consultant team, supported Sheridan in the articulation of two early-stage projects to kick start the implementation of the Master Plan at Trafalgar and Davis Campus. At the Trafalgar campus in Oakville, Ontario, Urban Strategies undertook extensive engagement with internal stakeholders at Sheridan to refine a conceptual development program for the Centre for Digital Innovation and worked with Sheridan and its partners to define potential project delivery strategies including public private partnerships.

Davis Campus (2021 – 2023)
At Davis Campus, in Brampton, Ontario, Urban Strategies undertook a similar exercise to articulate the Centre for Healthy Communities, anticipated to be the first step in the physical transformation of the Davis Campus. Using the Master Plan as flexible decision-making framework, Urban Strategies supported Sheridan to refine the project site, clarify the concept program and massing, worked with partners to re-imagine existing transit service and prepared a compelling, graphic brochure that articulates the project’s merits.

HMC Campus (2020 – 2021)
The HMC Master Plan Strategy responds to the unique land ownership context, focuses on partnership opportunities and prioritizes the Core Campus Zone and the Sheridan Precinct for HMC’s growth 

Short Term Action Plan (2019 – Present)
Implementing a master plan can be a complex task. To support Sheridan in the implementation of the Master Plan for Davis and Trafalgar campuses beyond the Front Running Projects, Urban Strategies is preparing Short Term Action Plans which will break down the short-term 10-year horizon of the Master Plan into discreet projects. Working with a multi-disciplinary team, Urban Strategies will prepare detailed matrices that identify projects, their dependencies as well as cost and time horizons.

Ongoing Planning Advisory Services (2019 – Present)
Urban Strategies provides on going land use planning advice to Sheridan to best position the institution in a changing land use planning context. Urban Strategies reviews policy documents, liaises with municipal staff and provides recommendations to Sheridan on how to best approach the planning processes needed to permit their envisioned transformation.