Toronto Forma | 308m | 84s | Great Gulf | Gehry Partners

Interesting building. The surfaces will be unique in Toronto. I wonder what the reflections will look like at noon in the summer? Hopefully not blinding to other towers nearby. I wonder if the envelope materials will inspire other buildings.

At this height, do builders put in dampening mechanisms to counter wind swaying???

It's certainly more common with taller buildings, but also in shorter buildings that are designed to be slender, like YC Condos, which has a unique structural dampening system.
The One and 1200 Bay Street are recent examples of designs that feature dampeners.

Both of the M+G towers will have TSD (tuned sloshing damper) tanks in the mechanical penthouses up top. The architectural plans show the TSD tank in the west tower as also being a fire tank, probably both are like that even if it's not labeled as such for the east tower. I suppose that means if there is a fire that requires the sloshing tank to be depleted, hope it's not too windy again until the tank is replenished!

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I won't give it the added clicks by linking it, but the blogTO article on the project today still claims it will replace the Princess of Wales Theatre.
I didn't notice that.

The only mention is here:

"Sitting atop the site that now holds Mirvish's Princess of Wales theatre, these will be the tallest and biggest
buildings designed by Gehry to date. Some say they may also be his last, given his advanced age."


Doesn't say it will replace it though.
 
I didn't notice that.

The only mention is here:

"Sitting atop the site that now holds Mirvish's Princess of Wales theatre, these will be the tallest and biggest
buildings designed by Gehry to date. Some say they may also be his last, given his advanced age."


Doesn't say it will replace it though.
That's as good an inference as any. Usually 82-storey buildings need some kind of support to stay aloft, so some BlogTO readers, having heard of gravity and physics at some point, might think that to rise above the Princess of Wales, that the theatre will be gone. It's simply more sloppiness from ClickbaitTO.

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That's as good an inference as any. Usually 82-storey buildings need some kind of support to stay aloft, so some BlogTO readers, having heard of gravity and physics at some point, might think that to rise above the Princess of Wales, that the theatre will be gone. It's simply more sloppiness from ClickbaitTO.

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But gravity and physics doesn't cause pre-existing structures to magically vaporize into nothing either. With careful planning, gravity and physics can be used to preserve and/or restructure heritage components even with building an 82 story building above it...as it has been demonstratively done with a number of other projects with newer buildings of various stories and heights.

But UT'er's probably already know this. BlogTo'er's on the other hand...
 
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That's as good an inference as any. Usually 82-storey buildings need some kind of support to stay aloft, so some BlogTO readers, having heard of gravity and physics at some point, might think that to rise above the Princess of Wales, that the theatre will be gone. It's simply more sloppiness from ClickbaitTO.

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True, there's definitely room for interpretation.
 
The view from the penthouse of the West tower:

Toronto Model 02-16-21 M&G Penthouse.png
 


Three developers have refined the plans for their two-tower mixed-use project in downtown Toronto designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry and his team.

The 74-storey east tower and 84-storey west tower to be built on King Street West between the Royal Alexandra Theatre and Princess of Wales Theatre will have approximately 2,000 condominium suites and 150,000 square feet of commercial space. The west tower will be the tallest Gehry-designed building in the world.

“This was a design that started almost seven years ago and we’ve continued to make iterations,” Westdale Properties chief operating officer Mitchell Cohen told RENX.

“We’re now at the final phase, which is going to the committee of adjustment. The refinements are really simple in nature.”

The vision for the Gehry project

Westdale is partners with Great Gulf and Dream Unlimited (DRM-T) on the Gehry project and Cohen had high praise for both of them.

“Frank’s vision is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. With the honour of constructing this vision, there’s a responsibility to do it right the first time.”

The latest changes to the Gehry project: adjust the organization of the towers on the site; enhance the podium by incorporating the façade of the heritage Anderson Building at 284 King St. W. that was built in 1915; and optimize the floor plates of both towers.

“The city made it loud and clear that it didn’t want a typical glass tower that can be found in any city,” said Cohen. “What they wanted was Frank Gehry’s vision to be built here in Toronto, his hometown.”

A new design features a building envelope clad in a variety of energy-efficient materials and includes a textured metal and glass façade Cohen said will make the structure a unique addition to the Toronto skyline while also reflecting it.

“When you take the shape of the buildings, the sun, which changes all of the time, the variety of materials and the different angles of the glass, it’s a really carefully choreographed dance that provides unique views that are never the same.

“It’s a surprise around every corner when you look at that building. The ensemble will become an instant landmark in Toronto.”

Marketing and sales for the Gehry project will start next year, with construction likely to follow in 2023. No timeline has been announced for how long it will take to build the two towers.

OCAD will occupy two floors of east tower

“The most marvelous part of this project is the fact that there are going to be two floors in the east tower dedicated to OCAD University,” said Cohen.

“The intersection of King Street West and Ed Mirvish Way is going to be the new hub for everything arts, culture and theatre.”

The two floors will add to space to OCAD’s unique tabletop-looking primary building, the Sharp Centre for Design at 100 McCaul St., located a few blocks north of the Gehry project site.
 
why will it take 7 years to construct?
Because it will be built by humans. :) Seriously though, think of the logistics. It will take less than 7 to top-off and enclose, but think of how many square feet of interior space needs to be finished for occupancy. Millions of tons of concrete and steel for the structure, the acres of glass to install, the many miles of electrical, plumbing, ventilation and networking before crews can start installing offices/residences and the like. The hotel will probably take a year by itself to finish the interiors of a few floors. I think 1 Bloor East took 5 years, no?
 
Not necessarily - you can always shorten the average floor height, keeping the overall tower heights the same. Residential towers tend to have lower floor heights, although with these being luxury towers, that general rule might not apply.
 

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