Academic | Studio II – Prof. Mason White

Winter 2015

Located at the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in Toronto, W.E.T. was designed for the public to experience and better understand the urban water process. Drawing from water infrastructure, and the urban presence of water towers, W.E.T. displaces water from the settling tanks on site vertically into a water tower reservoir, and employs gravity to return the water to the settling tanks. The water tower provides the R.C. Harris with a testing and research facility, an absent and arguably required program. The circulation of W.E.T. revolves around the water tower in a continuous spiralling ramp, capitalizing on views towards Lake Ontario, and enlarges at strategic points to accommodate for program such as a lab, exhibition spaces, a small library, and a board room. Structurally, W.E.T. is supported by the extension of the columns existing below in the settling tanks.