Laneway Puncture Demonstration Project tests an innovative green infrastructure design and a community-engaged, placemaking design strategy to strengthen the ecological, hydrological and social roles of two public laneways in Toronto’s west end. The idea was first presented by VTLA for a Call for Ideas exhibition hosted by Homegrown National Park at Urban Space Gallery in 2014. The exhibition featured prototype design ideas that addressed climate change, activated public space and achieved improvements in urban stormwater management and biodiversity. VTLA’s Public Laneway Puncture concept was developed further by a team of community activists and, with the help of Councillor Layton (Ward 19) and agreement from the local community, two laneway precedent sites were chosen.

Laneway punctures are incisions made along the central drainage channel of paved, impervious surfaces which are then installed with open grid, concrete unit pavers, filled with a porous soil and planted with CRACK MIX©, a custom seed pack of 15 hardy urban perennials typical to those that colonize the concrete cracks of laneways across Toronto laneways.  The permeable design offers a range of new benefits: an increased catchment area for rainwater infiltration, an additional micro-habitat for insects and spontaneous seed colonization, improved biodiversity levels, increased capacity to naturally filter dust and other pollution from the air and a platform for citizen stewardship of the public realm.

The project was nominated for an AZ AWARD in 2017.