Excavation is speeding along at Pears on the Avenue, a 20-storey boutique condominium by Menkes. Digging work on the site is progressing steadily and has now reached a depth of about 3 or 4 or storeys on the sloping site on Avenue Road just north of Davenport. Situated in a hilly area of midtown Toronto, the slope between the north and south sides of the property is quite pronounced - a relatively rare building scenario in our primarily flat city.  In the photos below, the difference in elevation is clearly visible, with the south retaining wall rising more than a full storey higher than the north wall.

Excavation progress at Pears on the Avenue, image by Jack Landau

Excavation progress at Pears on the Avenue, image by Jack Landau

The elegantly modern design by Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects features an inviting three-storey podium, which easily handles the area's incline. The main entrance, fronting onto Pears Avenue, leads into the spacious Munge Leung-designed lobby, complete with a sculptural spiral staircase. The frontage along Pears Avenue further to the west will be home to five townhouses – out of the total 175 units Pears on the Avenue will contain.  

Munge Leung-designed lobby with spiral staircase, image courtesy of Menkes

Rendering of townhomes fronting onto Pears Ave, image courtesy of Menkes

Atop the podium, residents will have access to the relaxing outdoor terrace gardens by landscape architects NAK Design Group. The tower itself will sport a sleek glass façade, its verticality punctuated by three white steel frames running up the north, south and east faces of the building.   To get a better understanding of the architectural details at play here, we turn to the scale model of the development, on view in the Pears on the Avenue Sales Centre at 164 Avenue Road.

Outdoor terraces above podium and townhouses on Pears Ave., image by Jack Landau

Scale model of Pears on the Avenue, image by Jack Landau

Scale model's podium, southeast corner of the building, image by Jack Landau

The Avenue Road frontage of Pears will feature double-height retail spaces.

White steel I-beams will run up the length of the north, south and east façades, image by Jack Landau

With a prime location at the crossroads of two of Canada’s most affluent and sought-after neighbourhoods – Yorkville and Forest Hill, it should come as no surprise that Pears on the Avenue is already over 80% sold. 

Rendering of Pears on the Avenue, image courtesy of Menkes

For additional information and renderings, visit the UrbanToronto dataBase entry linked below. Want to get involved in the conversation? Check out our related forum thread here, or voice your opinion in the comments section below.