A head-turner of a condo tower is quickly taking shape just north of St. Clair subway station, though it’s an entirely new shape for the growing skyline in this pocket of midtown Toronto.
Slate Asset Management and Globizen Group’s One Delisle project is rapidly ascending from its site along Yonge Street, and over the past several months, the 44-storey condo development’s standout architecture has grown much more apparent.
Designed by renowned Chicago-based architecture firm Studio Gang, the building is primed to stand out from the minimalist corporate boxes that dominate the area. As Gang’s first project in Canada, the building aims to create a local landmark, boasting a spire-like form featuring modules that appear to bloom from the tower.
Gang has described the project as “tuned to Toronto’s climate and lifestyle,” highlighting the tower’s “distinctive facade [that] comprises a series of eight-story hooded modules, which nest together as they spiral up the building.”
Studio Gang
Construction for the new tower kicked off in mid-2022 before work was halted last spring. The project had breezed through the construction of its foundations and underground parking component, though permits for above-grade construction had not yet been issued, forcing construction to pause temporarily.
In a bold bid to grease the wheels of the often cumbersome municipal approvals process, Globizen Group founder Brandon Donnelly wrote a blog post shaming the City for its convoluted system and applying pressure for permits to be issued.
This unconventional approach actually proved successful, and permits were finally issued in May 2024. Work resumed after the brief interruption.
Almost one year later, the building now stands approximately 20 storeys above Yonge Street, roughly doubling in height over the past four months, and is just shy of halfway towards a final height of 155 metres.
The unique geometry of the tower is hard to make out at a glance, though these modules are now being further distinguished through the addition of exterior cladding.
The building’s distinctive exterior treatment has been gradually installed along the shell of the tower base in recent weeks, and offers a hint at how this stunner of a design will look months down the road.
Curtainwall glass and white precast concrete panels only cover a small portion above the tower’s base, though the quality of what’s been installed so far bodes well for the final turnout.
The project will add 371 condominium units to the Yonge and St. Clair neighbourhood upon completion, with construction expected to wrap up in 2026.
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