While much of our recent coverage of Front Street has focused on the development occurring around Bathurst or further east, we haven't forgotten about one of our most hyped about projects, and neither have UrbanToronto Forum members. 300 Front Street West, located at the corner of Front and John, is making progress on its skyward climb — topping off at 49 and 13 storeys — and recently had cladding applied to its lower floors, giving us an idea of what to expect over the coming year. Forum members Xray_Crystal_Junkie and cruzin4u stopped by the site recently to provide us with some great images showing the cladding as well as the current state of construction.

Construction progress at 300 Front, image courtesy of Xray_Crystal_Junkie

Exterior cladding at 300 Front, image courtesy of cruzin4u

300 Front, image courtesy of Xray_Crystal_Junkie

The Wallman-designed tower does not try to impress through flashy colours or the juxtaposition of various materials. It's wrapped in shades of grey, entirely appropriate for a project of this scale. The cladding so far derives visual interest from the abstract arrangement of windowpanes and translucent/transparent panels. As the tower continues to climb we can expect to see this pattern repeat on the 13-storey component, while corner balconies and vertical bands of contrasting glass will accent the 49-storey tower.

Courtyard rendering for 300 Front, image courtesy of Tridel

The gray exterior will be complemented by a treed courtyard designed by award-winning landscape architects Claude Cormier + Associates, which will be publicly accessible and benefit the larger community as well as building residents.

Lobby rendering of 300 Front, image courtesy of Tridel

The grayness of the exterior hides the richness we look forward to seeing on the interiors, designed by Union31. The renderings show extensive use of dark woods, sleek granites, onyx and art deco-style furniture, with geometric patterns providing ornamentation rather than colourful paintings and abstract murals.

Project rendering, image courtesy of Tridel

The tower is clearly trying to fit in comfortably with its financial neighbours — buildings such as the TD Centre —where materiality, texture and simplicity were prized over flash and glitz. Developed by Tridel, we can expect 300 Front Street West to be complete sometime next year. For more information, including renderings and floorplans, visit the dataBase page (linked below), or head over the associated project thread for the latest construction updates.

Related Companies:  CCxA, The Fence People, Tridel, U31