In the two months since our last update on the construction of Allied Properties REIT and RioCan's King Portland Centre, the mixed-use Hariri Pontarini Architects-designed project on King Street West has progressed significantly. Crews have begun forming the south end of the building's ground floor, with the project now set to begin making an impact above grade. 

The development will contribute a mix of commercial and residential space; the north end of the site will feature 15 storeys of residential space, while 13 storeys of office commercial will rise on the south half of the site. The lower ceilings of residential floors compared to commercial levels mean that the 13- and 15-storey volumes will reach similar heights.  

 Ground floor being poured for the King Portland Centre, image by Jack Landau

This week, a procession of concrete trucks idled along the site's King Street frontage, feeding concrete into crane-mounted buckets and pouring them onto a waiting rebar cage that will reinforce the floor slab. Vertically-protruding bundles of rebar mark the sites where supporting columns will continue to rise through the levels to come.

A bucket of concrete in motion at the King Portland Centre site, image by Jack Landau

Seen below, the north side of the site still has some distance to go before catching up with the at-grade southern portion, where work is still in full swing on the three-level underground parking garage. It will provide the building with 185 parking spaces and 235 bicycle parking spaces. 

North end of the King Portland Centre site, image by Jack Landau

Above the parking levels, the building will include a major contribution of 255,565 ft² of office space to the supply in the King West area—with Shopify set to anchor with 112,000 ft² of space—while 13,035 ft² of new retail space will front onto King and new mid-block walkways.

Facing southeast across the King Portland Centre site, image by Jack Landau

With the first portion of the site's footprint now at street level, the next major element in the project's construction will be the forming of the King Portland Centre's five-storey base. Clad in red brick, these podium levels will establish a dialogue with the surrounding historic warehouse structures. Above, the set-back tower levels of the office component will feature a reflective, curved curtain wall glazing system. To the north, the residential component fronting onto Adelaide Street West will be framed in a solid white cladding material, punctuated by vertical piers.

King Portland Centre, image courtesy of Allied REIT/RioCan

The King Portland Centre is currently scheduled for an early 2019 completion. In the meantime, additional information can be found in our dataBase file for the King Portland Centre, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.