Toronto 199 Church | 124.5m | 39s | CentreCourt | Arcadis

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Looking forward to this one, the Fleur condos look incredibly sharp and hoping to see a similar effect here with that balcony-less black cladding. It fits with the context of that black spire atop St Michaels and the black iron gate around its perimeter. I think someone mentioned in the Fleur thread that it may be an homage to Mies and the TD Centre. When it's finished it should really pop!
 
Roughly 5 months to get up to grade level is pretty quick compared to other developers/projects of similar scale. CentreCourt don't mess around.
 

We began our survey at a row of three-storey Georgian townhouses that span from 191 to 197 Church St. in Toronto. These handsome, solid, pre-Confederation buildings by architect John Tulley would have been residences for middle-class merchants, clerks, editors, architects and the like for their first hundred years, but were converted to retail and office spaces by the mid-twentieth century. Once part of a row of 10 townhouses, only these four remain (since one was rebuilt in 1981 after a fire, only three are technically original and an examination of their mortar bears this out), which means their continued existence on Church St. between Shuter and Dundas streets is crucial.

“The interesting thing about this retention is that we’re able to retain it without a structure,” says Mr. Gascoyne, “which is a lot easier for interacting with the street.”

He’s right: the sidewalk has not been bumped out to accommodate a steel retention frame – that’s a bridge-like structure required to hold up thin façades – because a full three metres of depth has been retained. Those wrapping side walls not only make these Georgians self-supporting, they preserve the entry sequence for future generations.

“The stairs are character-defining for Georgians,” says Mr. Ghattas, “but there were also stairs going down to the basement level.” These, he explains, won’t make it into the new development since “there’s no need to go to the basement from the street.” And, just as before, CentreCourt will be leasing these to retailers. With co-developer Parallax, the new portion of 199 Church St. will rise to 39 storeys.
 

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