A tall order for Toronto real estate
Pencil-thin, 87-storey condo planned for corner of Bloor and Bay streets
An award-winning Swiss architectural firm is partnering with Toronto company Quadrangle Architects to design an 87-storey tower at the corner of Bay and Bloor streets.
Designs for the pencil-slim condominium include a lobby with a towering ceiling three floors above the ground and a restaurant and sky lounge, as well as rentable rooms on the top three floors offering panoramic views of the city.
“This is an iconic block in the neighbourhood and Toronto at large. We have an opportunity to deliver a project that sets a new benchmark for design and strives to give something back to the city,” said Lesley Bamberger, owner of Kroonenberg Groep in a statement put out by the company, which is one of two Dutch real estate developers behind the project.
The other is ProWinko, which has offices in Toronto and is one of the developers of the Ace Hotel on Camden Street in city.
The condominium, still in the planning phase, will be 324 metres, about five metres short of the west tower at Mirvish+Gehry on King Street West in Toronto, which will be the tallest building in Canada when it is completed and is further along in the planning process, according to Urban Toronto, a website that covers development projects in the city.
The first 16 floors of the tower at 1200 Bay Street will be given over to retail and office space and will be separated from the condo floors above by a private amenities level.
The building will house 332 condominiums, from one-bedroom suites to multi-evel penthouses, over 64 floors. The design calls for floor-to-ceiling operable windows and roller blinds sandwiched between two panes of glass.
The tower marks the first project in Canada for Herzog & de
Meuron, the Swiss architects behind notable designs such as the Tate Modern museum expansion in London and the Allianz Arena soccer stadium in Munich.
Quadrangle is an award-winning firm known for its heritage rebuilds and numerous projects in Toronto including the BMW showroom on Eastern Avenue and the Corus Entertainment building on Queens Quay.