The King and Bay towers have dominated Toronto's skyline for decades. But some of the country's largest structures are under construction in the surrounding districts. In recent years, the Entertainment Zone has become more of a condo district. But, its most daring and lofty buildings are shaping up to be unlike anything else in the city. And they're coming shortly to the block of 266-284 King Street West.
The Forma two-tower complex will have two of the city's highest structures. Their soaring heights of 73 and 84 stories will loom over nearby condos. It has a stunning design by Frank Gehry, the locally-born and world-renowned architect impressing in a fresh group of renderings.
The legacy project, the much long-awaited project for the Pritzker Prize-winning architect, will be his first new construction in Canada. The single local contribution to the 93-year-old Canadian-American architect's distinguished portfolio was the AGO enlargement, which was finished in 2008. His achievements have been recognized, and his celebrity status as an architect is as high as it gets. That includes him even appearing as a guest star on an episode of The Simpsons.
The project originally had a proposal by a partnership led by theatre impresario David Mirvish. But it is now led by a team of developers Westdale Properties, Dream and Great Gulf. They recently announced the start of sales for the project's 73-story tower. But this has taken a long time.
Compromise is unavoidable in this town. The project has been pared down in both scale and design in the years since that big concept was initially floated in 2012. It's still lofty, but the decrements in scope include the removal of one tower, lowered heights, and a streamlined design. All of this contributes to less overall wow-factor, except for a tower's removal, which would have necessitated the demolition of the Princess of Wales Theatre.
Nonetheless, today's value-engineered (even watered-down) design is nothing short of amazing. Even the condo lobby will be impressive, with flowing sculptural work in copper. It reflects the exterior's shimmering wave design.
Most recently, Frank Gehry spoke with Alex Bozikovic from the Globe and Mail. It was about what would soon be among the highest skyline of Toronto points, describing the towers' appearance as "calm." That may be true in comparison to Gehry's breathtakingly sophisticated designs. But it is about as loud as it gets by Toronto standards.
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