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proposed tallest tower in Canada
June 4, 2020

Dutch developers propose 87-storey Toronto tower that would be the tallest building in Canada

A new supertall tower by world-leading architects could reshape the downtown Toronto skyline.

A partnership of two Dutch real estate companies is proposing an 87-storey office-and-residential tower at the northwest corner of Bloor and Bay Streets, designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. At 324 metres, if built today, it would become the tallest building in Canada.

“The tower defines the northern edge of the downtown area and provides a landmark in the urban grid,” said Wim Walschap, a partner at Herzog & de Meuron (HdM) who is leading the design. “It is a very direct response to the site and the city around it.”

The design is for a tower that would be not just among the tallest but also likely the thinnest high-rise in Toronto; its upper floors are just 7,300 square feet in area. It would contain two floors of retail, 13 floors of office space, 71 floors of residential condominium units ranging from one-bedrooms to penthouses and then a restaurant at the top.

The announcement comes at a time when the markets for high-rise residential and office space face uncertainty, thanks to COVID-19 and expectations of a major recession. Cyndi Rottenberg-Walker, of Toronto-based planning consultancy Urban Strategies Inc., who is consulting on the project, said the development has been in active preparation for several months. “They have put serious investment into hiring some of the best architects anywhere,” she said. “It’s not being taken lightly.”

The project is now seeking planning approval from the City of Toronto. If approved, it would be the first building in Canada by HdM, highly regarded architects who designed the Bird’s Nest stadium for the Beijing Olympics and the Tate Modern gallery in London. And they are the design architects for the proposed new home of the Vancouver Art Gallery, announced in 2015.

HdM won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most prestigious award in the field, in 2001.

Keep reading in The Globe and Mail

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