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It has been three months since we last checked in on construction of Great Gulf Homes' Monde Condominiums, a 44-storey condominium tower rising on Queen's Quay in Toronto's East Bayfront district. At that time, forming was underway for the Moshe Safdie and Quadrangle Architects-designed building's 240,000 square-foot, nine-storey podium. Since then, forming of the podium levels has wrapped up, and work has now commenced on the smaller tower floors above.
At the north end of the site footprint, the tower, with its repetitive floor plates, should rise at the rate of about one level per week. The top six levels will tapering away with a series of stepbacks.
While the building grows taller, the first cladding panels have been installed on the podium levels. While Monde's tower will be glass-clad and present an airy appearance, the ground-hugging podium will have a much more solid appearance with its windows punched out of a precast exterior. Both components will share a rhythmic geometry common to Moshe Safdie designs, here created through staggered balcony patterns.
At a height of 150 metres, and unimpeded by other high-rises to its south, Monde residents will have sweeping views of the lake, while the building will have a major impact on the Toronto skyline from popular viewing angles such as Polson Pier and Ward's Island. For a short time, Monde will stand as the tallest building in the emerging East Bayfront district, before eventually being surpassed by the 48-storey residential tower coming to the nearby Daniels Waterfront site to the west.
Additional information and renderings of Monde can be found in our dataBase file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Visit the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.
