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Recent revisions to the Site Plan Approval (SPA) application for SkyTower, the second phase at Pinnacle One Yonge, include greater detail about the very top of the building, and have led UrbanToronto to revise the final height for what is to be Canada's tallest tower, already under construction at Yonge Street and Lake Shore Boulevard in Downtown Toronto. It's a small difference, but when you're the talking about the future tallest building in the country, every centimetre matters to those who keep track.
Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects for Pinnacle International, the revised SPA application dated April 8, 2024, follows Toronto City Council having approved amendments in December, 2023 to the Zoning By-law that saw the complex's second phase tower rise from 90 storeys to 105. At that time, the City recognized 344.9m as the tower's new total height, marking the tip of the glass screen that encircles the building's Mechanical Penthouse section at its peak.
The new SPA shows much greater detail for the top of the building, however, including that the Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) — a device used in the tallest buildings to keep them from swaying in the wind — has been redesigned so that its housing is now the highest point of the building. The TMD's housing will peak above the glass screen (or parapet, as per the image below) by an additional 0.7m. At the same time, the glass screen is now 0.1m shorter than before, bringing the new total height to 0.6m higher than previous, or 345.5m. (The heights in the image below are in relation to sea level: ground level of SkyTower is at 77.3 metres above sea level)
Already a 'supertall' (any building 300m or taller claims that distinction), the now supertaller building will also be the first in Canada to exceed 100 storeys. No other building proposals have yet been approved equal to or beyond that height, making this the country’s tallest building-to-be. The current record holder is First Canadian Place at 298m. That building has held the record since 1975. The One, currently under construction at Bloor and Yonge streets, may surpass the height of First Canadian Place before SkyTower claims the crown.
In the meantime, the most recent shots from the UrbanToronto Forum show that construction of SkyTower has now progressed to 20 storeys high, while the installation of glass curtain wall cladding now reaches the 9th storey, The building will be mostly hotel for its first 12 storeys, with residential condo suiltes starting above the thick transfer slab.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database files, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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