12.3 Built Form and Site Planning
Principle
Facilitate development that enhances the character of its surroundings and the city and contributes to attractive, enduring, and memorable places.
Buildings contribute to placemaking through architecture and function. A building’s relationship to the adjacent public realm and the broader built environment is also critically important. Great places often are made up of many mutually compatible buildings that, together, bring life to the streets and open spaces around them. The following policies support the creation of great places through built form and site planning.
Policies
12.3.1.
Ensure general consistency of scale in developments within existing Neighbourhoods through complementary built form, while encouraging a greater range of higher density built form in and around areas planned for intensification.
12.3.2.
Ensure appropriate built form and density transitions between existing Neighbourhoods and priority areas for growth, as identified on Map 4.
How do we transition between different building forms?
Appropriate transitions between taller buildings and low-rise neighbourhoods can minimize impacts such as wind, noise, privacy, and sunlight exposure. Some tools that can be used to ensure appropriate transitions include stepping down building heights between taller and lower-scale buildings and ensuring appropriate separation distances.
12.3.3.
Encourage apartment, office, and institutional buildings within existing commercial or planned mixed-use areas to include commercial or public uses on the ground floors along public streets.
12.3.4.
Encourage a building’s siting and design to maximize views of significant natural features and existing landmark buildings.
12.3.5.
Assess and minimize the shadow impacts, through building design and setbacks, of proposed new mid-rise and high-rise buildings on public open spaces and private amenity spaces in abutting
properties and Neighbourhoods.
12.3.6.
Prioritize the safety and comfort of pedestrians through site plan design elements, including direct and connected pathways, landscaping, and appropriate lighting.
12.3.7.
Encourage apartment buildings to include at least one level of underground parking.
12.3.8.
Support building and site design that minimizes the adverse effects of garbage, loading, and service areas on the abutting public realm.
12.3.9.
Encourage the use of durable, high-quality building materials, such as stone, brick, decorative concrete, laminated timber, and non-coloured glass.
12.3.10.
Encourage prominent public buildings, such as schools and government buildings, to reflect a high standard of architecture, engineering, and landscape architecture.
12.3.11.
Require appropriate screening and integration of rooftop mechanical units and vents into building design.
12.3.12.
Encourage the mitigation of light pollution in environmentally sensitive areas.
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Accessibility and Comfort
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Last edited: November 7, 2025
