14 months since a ground breaking ceremony marked the official start of work at The Selby, the new rental tower on Sherbourne Street, south of Bloor, has begun to rise from behind the preserved Gooderham Mansion. Developed by Tricon Capital with partners OP Trust and MOD Developments, The Selby will rise 50 storeys above Toronto's St. James Town neighbourhood, featuring a red and black brick exterior designed by Chicago-based bKL Architecture.

The Selby viewed from the east on Sherbourne Street, image by Stefan Novakovic

Following the 2015 move of the historical mansion several metres closer to Sherbourne Street, shoring and excavation for the tower footprint commenced. With much of the excavation completed by Spring 2016, the next step in the project's construction was the April installation of a tower crane, followed by the forming of The Selby's four-level underground parking garage, set to contain a total of 152 spaces. In the time since, construction reached grade, and now stands four storeys above the intersection of Sherbourne and Selby, with work underway on the fifth level.

South view of the podium's Selby Street frontage, image by Stefan Novakovic

The first three-dozen storeys of The Selby will feature a deep cut into the southeast corner of the otherwise rectangular floor plate. This indented corner will be prominently marked by solid brick-clad walls, a counterpoint to the punched windows of the rest of the tower's facade. Down at ground level, that cut-out corner is now apparent behind the heritage mansion.

Indented southeast corner at The Selby, image by Stefan Novakovic

With a large portion of the podium structure now in place, work will soon move on to the narrower tower floor plates above. With the repetitive tower floors, crews will be able to quickly form and pour each residential level, then "fly" the forms up to repeat the process, allowing for a much faster ascent over the coming months.

Podium taking shape along Selby Street, image by Stefan Novakovic

Another major milestone will come when the first elements of cladding are installed. The Selby's brick exterior and point tower massing will serve as a contextual meeting point between the modern condominium towers to the west and the slab-style apartment towers of the surrounding St. James Town neighbourhood. Renderings of the tower released earlier this year provide more detail of the tower's exterior, including a detailed view of the brick-clad window framing that will serve as the main tower cladding.

Detailed view of cladding on The Selby, image retrieved via submission to City of Toronto

Additional information and renderings for The Selby (including the southeast corner cut-out!) can be found in the project's dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.