Imperial Plaza is a spectacular international style tower on St. Clair Avenue West, once built to house Imperial Oil's headquarters, and which is now being converted into condominium residences by prolific Toronto developer Camrost Felcorp. The limestone-clad building was built to impress, and it will certainly become of of the city's premiere addresses over the coming years. We'll go in and see why.

image by Craig White

The lobby. The intention is to split this area in three, with retail on one side and a restaurant on the other side of a central residential lobby.

image by Craig White

This area is dominated by late artist York Wilson's diptych, 'The Story of Oil'. This pair of 32' by 21' murals are the largest of their kind in the country, and are considered a masterpiece of 20th century Canadian art. Futurist/cubist in style, one mural depicts the origins of oil, while the other depicts its uses. The murals will be protected and remain as centrepieces of the future restaurant and shop.

image by Craig White

image by Craig White

The model shows that architects Rod Rowbotham of Onespace Unlimited, David Pontarini of Hariri Pontarini, and Michael McClelland of E.R.A. are leaving the exterior much as it is now, maintaining the 1958-opened building's international style without embellishments.

image by Craig White

image by Craig White

The eighth floor of the building has been a mechanical floor until now, and currently features a translucent glass block grid. With small modern HVAC systems being installed, this floor will be converted to house two-storey lofts, which will have appropriate windows replace the glass block.

image by Craig White

image by Craig White

Balconies will be created on the south side on some upper floors by creating new window walls in from the building's walls.

image courtesy of Camrost Felcorp

Imperial Oil left this building in 2005 when they decamped to Calgary. We'll ride the elevators up and get a look at the state of it now.

image by Craig White

A number of offices on the 20th floor still have some fittings. All walls will be coming down, and materials salvaged where possible. The wood panelling on the second shot below will surely end up in someone's home.

image by Edward Skira

image by Edward Skira

On other floors, the demolition is all but finished.

image by Edward Skira

image by Craig White

We will return to Imperial Plaza twice in the coming weeks, to give you an idea of the views in all directions that can be seen from this central location, and on May 11th we'll return for a look at a new release of 7-figure 3-storey townhomes on the building's roof.

Does Imperial Plaza pique your interest? Leave a comment here, or click on the link below to join in the conversation in UrbanToronto's thread for the project.

Related Companies:  DesignAgency, Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, Janet Rosenberg & Studio, Milborne Group, Onespace Unlimited