New subway access is fuelling a rush to the sky and creating a promising downtown for Vaughan, just two kilometres beyond Toronto's northern city limit. Every downtown needs its signature buildings though, and the latest phase of Cortel Group's Expo City development is promising to provide one. Since plans for the new condominium tower, designed by Quadrangle, came to light in December, new images have been gradually rolled out, revealing new details about what is proposed to be Vaughan's tallest building.

Aerial view of Expo City 5 in Vaughan, image via Quadrangle

Still yet to be officially named, Expo City 5 is proposed just west of the first four towers on the Highway 7 site currently occupied by a condo presentation centre. The first rendering released in December, above, gave us a bird's eye view of the red brick-clad stacked boxes, decreasing in size and allowing planted terraces as the tower rises. That image was followed shortly afterwards by a second in January, below, which offered a ground-level look at the glazed podium.

Facing north to Expo City 5 from Highway 7, image via Lunas 3D Visualization

Two more renderings have recently been released, both offering a better look at the group of V-shaped structural supports that wrap around the ground floor's northwest corner. These columns will support the west cantilever of the tower's lowermost volume, which when combined with the glazed podium, will create a floating effect. Below, a view to Expo City 5 across one of the Black Creek ponds which is becoming the centrepiece for a new park.

Facing southeast to Expo City 5, image via Cortel Group

A closer look at this feature is seen in the latest rendering, below. The image also offers a more detailed look at the punched windows on the tower above, showing projecting frames that give the red brick facades added texture.

Facing southeast to Expo City 5, image via Quadrangle

Architectural plans have now been submitted to the City of Vaughan, with the proposal seeking 60 storeys rather than the previously-thought 61. A total gross floor area of 55,133 m2 is proposed, with 52,663 to be residential space. 1,064 m2 of retail space would front Highway 7 and Maplecrete Road. While the submission is light on other details at the moment, more information should emerge in the coming weeks.

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.