Six months after a September 2018 ground breaking marked the start of construction for a new office tower at 65 King Street East, work on the 18-storey, WZMH Architects and IBI Group-designed development is proceeding just west of Church Street in Downtown Toronto. The project from Carttera Private Equities has already progressed through its heritage facade retention phase—overseen by heritage architecture specialists GBCA—and shoring work. Crews are now excavating the site to create space for the four-level underground garage.

Preserved heritage facades at 65 King East, image by Edward Skira

Recent photos of the site reveal plenty going on behind the King Street heritage facades that will be reincorporated into the base of the new tower. Crews have excavated several metres below grade, gradually exposing both caisson wall and pile and lagging shoring systems around the perimeter.

Looking southeast across the 65 King East site, image by Edward Skira

As the excavation deepens, installation has begun on the first row of tiebacks that will anchor the shoring walls to the surrounding earth. These steel anchors are now appearing along the north and east shoring walls, while a horizontal drilling rig is in action preparing tiebacks for the west shoring wall along Leader Lane.

Looking east across the 65 King East site, image by Edward Skira

Once excavation bottoms out and a crane is erected, forming will begin to bring the building up to grade level, followed by the tower's 83-metre ascent above King Street East. Upon completion, 65 King East will introduce 400,000 ft² of LEED Gold, WELL Ready, and Wired Gold certified status office space to the area. Depending on which floors they locate on, tenants will have access to outdoor terraces ranging from 678 ft² to 4,600 ft², with a combined 18,152 ft² of terrace space spread across eight floors.

65 King Street East, image via submission to City of Toronto

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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