It has been roughly three months since we last reported on plans for a 28-storey residential tower in Toronto's Church-Wellesley neighbourhood, and in the time since developer Aragon Properties has moved forward and now Eighty One Wellesley is taking registrations.

Rendering of Eighty One Wellesley, image courtesy of Aragon Properties

Designed by Core Architects, Eighty One Wellesley follows Modernist principles of clean lines, rectilinearity, and repeated geometries, best exemplified by the tower's nested volumes. For the building's podium floors just above street level, Eighty One Wellesley reinterprets the Modern in warmer ways, with a punched dark-hued brick skin which steps up between its lower neighbour on Church and its taller neighbour to the east.

Rendering of Eighty One Wellesley, image courtesy of Aragon Properties

A closer-in rendering of the podium levels reveals rows of glassed-in balconies framed by the staggered brick lattice, allowing lots of light into the outdoor spaces well helping them blend with the surrounding architecture. At street level, the lobby entrance and a retail space—a café is pictured—are fronted by a 7.5-metre-wide forecourt and patio. The space is appointed with granite paving slabs, ipe wood benches, an illuminated water feature, and is sheltered by an ipe wood soffit overhang, all making for an inviting public realm.

Rendering of Eighty One Wellesley, image courtesy of Aragon Properties

The podium and tower volumes will be separated via a two-storey fully-glazed space occupying the 7th and 8th floors, home to many of the development's indoor and outdoor amenities. Above, the tower portion rises with volumes gradually stepping back from the street.

Rendering of amenity terrace at 81 Wellesley Street East, image courtesy of Aragon Properties

There will be much more information coming on Eighty One Wellesley in the coming months, so we will be back with more information as details about this condominium emerge. In the meantime, you find more renderings in our dataBase file for the development, linked below, and you can get involved in the discussion either by visiting the associated Forum threads, or by leaving a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.