Among the most recent additions to Toronto's Financial District skyline, Brookfield Properties' recently-completed Bay Adelaide Centre continues to reveal new surprises, evidenced by recent photos captured from within the project's 6-storey podium.

Podium of Bay Adelaide East, image by Marcus Mitanis

A far cry from the raw, unfinished version we toured back in 2014, the podium levels are now punctuated by an unexpectedly striking central atrium. Accessed via the first set of doors west of Yonge Street on Adelaide Street West, the lofty space that now greets people arriving at anchor tenant Deloitte's offices, or entering the PATH system. Escalators lead up to Deloitte's reception area on level 2, or down to the extensive PATH network below.

A recent tour by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat saw the space, image by Craig White

Capped by an extensive skylight, the six-storey space features ample natural light, and is criss-crossed by suspended sets of staircases featuring glass railings and deep green finishes which reflect the atrium's dramatic LED lighting. It casts the space in hues of blue and purple, and is amplified by reflective surfaces covering structural supporting columns.

Inside the Deloitte atrium, image by Craig White

Through windows lining the north side of the atrium, a new landscaped courtyard space can be seen, wedged between the podium and the heritage Aikenhead's building on Temperance Street.

Designed by KPMB Architects with architects of record Adamson Associates Architects and heritage specialists ERA Architects, the east tower was the second realized element in the long-anticipated complex. The first two phases are set to be joined in the future by a third tower to be constructed on the north side of Temperance Street.

Bistro space at the corner of Yonge and Adelaide, image by Marcus Mitanis

Another recent development is the opening of a private bistro for Deloitte employees and their guests at the corner of Adelaide and Yonge. Though this space will unfortunately do little to animate this stretch of Adelaide during non-business hours, a Sud Forno Restaurant and Bakery will open up next Spring at the north end of the podium at Yonge and Temperance. It is in a portion of the podium which sits behind moved heritage walls, and a section where the heritage walls were replicated. Sitting beside the heritage Aikenhead building and across Temperance Street from the heritage Dineen building, these low-rise restored landmarks are bringing life back to this portion of Yonge Street.

The north end of the podium is behind heritage and replicated heritage walls, image by Marcus Mitanis

You can find our previous articles and see pre-construction renderings of the development by visiting the project's dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the conversation? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.