15.09.2023

Downsview Framework Plan wins the Toronto Urban Design Award!

We’re happy to share that our resilient masterplan for North Toronto’s new Downsview district has won the prestigious Toronto Urban Design Award!

One of the most significant city-building opportunities in North America, the Downsview Framework Plan, has been awarded a 2023 Toronto Urban Design Award in the Vision and Masterplan category.

Developed through comprehensive dialogue with a world-class design team and the community, our resilient masterplan for North Toronto’s new Downsview district is green-minded, human-scale, and people-first. The innovative design puts nature, sustainability, and resilience front and center making parks, open spaces, streetscapes, courtyards, and buildings work together as an integrated nature-based stormwater management system, even during extreme storm events while enhancing biodiversity across the site:

“In Downsview, we introduce a whole new hierarchy for how to design our cities. By putting nature first, we create a new way of living in Toronto centered on climate resilience, local identity, and strong community. We call this design approach ‘City Nature’, and we’re thrilled to see our collective vision for a greener and healthier future celebrated”

— Rasmus Astrup, Partner and Design Principal at SLA.
Downsview The 2.1-kilometer runway is turned into a pedestrianized street, lined by housing, shops, and schools - changing from connecting people on a global level to connecting people on a local level.
Downsview One hundred acres of green spaces will tie the new neighborhoods together - with each other and with the rest of Toronto.

The project is spearheaded by Northcrest Developments and Canada Lands Company, the Framework Plan is designed in collaboration with a world-class team of international and local architects, designers and planners that includes Henning Larsen, KPMB, Urban Strategies Inc., Rambøll, Transsolar, Swerhun Inc., Department of Words and Deeds.

Read more about the project here.

08.10.2026

The Danish Arts Foundation awards Lifetime Honours to Stig L. Andersson

The Danish Arts Foundation has decided to award its Lifetime Honourary Grant to SLA’s founder Stig L. Andersson. The Lifetime Honourary Grant is awarded to artists and architects who have made an exceptional contribution to Denmark’s arts and cultural life.

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15.07.2026

Introducing: Expo Valley Sanctuary

At the heart of Expo City Dubai, we are creating Expo Valley Sanctuary: a 107,000 m² living nature sanctuary that redefines what urban development can be in the UAE.

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21.04.2026

Team SLA wins The International Quarter in Esbjerg

We are excited to share that Team SLA has won the project to design the new green heart of The International Quarter in Esbjerg.

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