Less than two weeks after London city council last debated the redevelopment of the South Street hospital lands, a competition at Fanshawe College Saturday challenged students to put their own spin on the next stage of the project.
Twelve teams of Fanshawe students came up with designs for the property in SoHo.
The riverfront site is currently city council's priority for redevelopment.
"The general idea to intensify the area, have more people here to enjoy the space along the river is what i think the city of London is going for," says student Jason Rodgers.
"Getting more people there to see it exists and realize its something unique that we can use," adds students Jamie Robertson.
The designs incorporated the existing heritage buildings and called for public green space along the river.
They are both key objectives of the real world process underway in the city planning office.
"They don't have to deal with the budget, the city does. But a lot of the ideas we're seeing will cross that budget barrier," says Don Menard, London Heritage Planner.
The goals of this project however go well beyond what's eventually built on the property.
There's significant hope at city hall that a successful redevelopment could spark a brighter future for the entire SoHo neighbourhood.
"Looks pretty fancy. It will be nice to see something here," says SoHo resident Kathleen Noble.
The city's planning department is currently completing work to evaluate developers who have expressed interest in the first phase of development.
