Proposed 87-storey tower on Bay St. would be tallest in Canada

Torontosun.com
June 5, 2020

It’s not nearly as tall as the CN Tower, but it’s well on its way.

Dutch developers Kroonenberg Groep and ProWinko are proposing an 87-storey, mixed-used pencil-thin tower at 1200 Bay St., at the northwest corner of Bay and Bloor Sts. If it reaches its aim of 324 metres, it would be the tallest in Canada if built today, according to Urban Toronto -- falling short of the CN Tower by 229 metres.

Rivalling this development is the Mirvish+Gehry Toronto tower planned for King St. W. and Duncan St. It’s slated for 329 metres, or 91 storeys, and is well into the planning process.

“This is an iconic block in the neighbourhood and Toronto at large,” Lesley Bamberger, owner of Kroonenberg Groep, said of Bay and Bloor. “We have an opportunity to deliver a project that sets a new benchmark for design and strives to give something back to the city

The plot is currently the site of a 12-storey office building.

Award-winning Switzerland-based architects Herzog & de Meuron will be working with local firm Quadrangle to design the building. The first 16 floors would be dedicated to office and retail space and a top deck sky lounge and restaurant would offer panoramic views of the city, similar to the CN Tower’s observation deck.

From the Bloor St. street level, residents will enter a triple-height lobby and take one of four dedicated elevators to get to the 332 condo units spread over 64 floors. The units range from one-bedroom suites to multi-level penthouses.

The tower would feature a double-skin glass facade, described in the press release as “interior glazing (thermal envelope), exterior timber roller shades and an outer layer of transparent, open-jointed glass.”

While ProWinko are the developers behind the Ace Hotel at Brant and Camden Sts., now under construction, the Bay-Bloor tower is the first Canadian project for Herzog & de Meuron, the architects behind the Tate Modern museum expansion in London and Munich’s Allianz Arena soccer stadium.