Since plans appeared early 2018 for a new office tower at Bay and Harbour streets in Toronto's South Core, work has been continuing behind the scenes at Oxford Properties Group on The HUB. Earlier this month, revised plans for the Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners-designed tower (working with locally-based Adamson Associates Architects as Architect of Record) were submitted to the City, with a number of changes and refinements including a reimagined skyline presence.

Current and previous iterations of The HUB, images retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

The most substantial changes made are revisions to the top of the tower, with the extra-tall glassed-in crown reduced in size, with a shorter mechanical floor replacing the 60th level, bringing the previous roof height of 276 metres down to 259 metres, and a revised structural height of 273.75 metres to the top of the fins. In total, the building now proposes 132,704 m² of office space and 2,325 m² of retail space.

The HUB, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

The new mechanical floor which has a smaller floorplate than the office floors is mostly hidden from view by a perimeter roof that slopes inwards, while a pair of 38-metre-tall spires, labeled as lightning rods in the architectural plans, has been added above the fins, bringing the total height to just shy of 312 metres. At this height, the spires would stretch above the roof height of First Canadian Place, currently Canada's tallest building.

Skyline, The HUB, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

Significant revisions have also been carried out on the podium, including modifications to the coloured elevator cores that animate the lobby space and continue up through the podium. In response to a suggestion from City staff, the revision list includes that “the design of the tower soffit and lobby ceiling" which are approximately 19 metres above ground level, "are both being further developed. Articulation of these surfaces may be achieved by expressing the steel floor framing.”

Podium, The HUB, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

Other changes include an update to the public realm plan that incorporates a 191 m² Privately Owned Publicly-Accessible Space (POPS) along the site's Harbour Street frontage. This POPS would consist of a series of granite benches and an interactive water scrim—marking the original shoreline of Lake Ontario—that can be programmed to emerge and retreat to react to either changing seasons or for programming needs.

The development would be connected to Toronto's pedestrian PATH network via a third floor hall into Menkes' One York complex to the west. Meanwhile, a knockout panel is proposed on the site's underground B1 level, below the tower's northeast corner, to connect with the existing TTC Harbourfront streetcar tunnel beneath Bay Street should changes to the service benefit from another access point.

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 thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.

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