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It seems as though the Don Valley is the new hotspot for car dealerships in Toronto, as Grand Touring Automobiles' brand new showroom is currently under construction alongside the DVP at 777 Dundas Street East. The luxury car dealership, which carries high-end cars like Lamborghini, Bugatti, Rolls Royce, and Bentley among others, is following in the footsteps of the highly successful Mercedes-Benz and Lexus dealerships across the valley, as well as the BMW dealership further south on Eastern Avenue.
Designed by Plaston Architect Limited, the sprawling complex will rise four storeys above the DVP with a gross floor area of 13,100 square metres (141,100 square feet). Given the steep change in grade of the site, the building will rise only two storeys where it meets Dundas Street to the north, with access to a terrace parking lot atop the roof of the two lower levels. All four levels are exposed to the west and south.
The building is broken down into a series of rectangular volumes, each housing a different make or group of dealers. On the west elevation, overlooking the Don Valley, the volumes will cantilever out over the lower levels, creating a stepped facade that counters the slope of the site. To the east, the building appears as a complex of buildings set back from the street, with several returns and varying roof levels breaking up the volume of the large structure.
Construction is well underway on the dealership, with the elevator core now rising the full height of the building. The concrete floor slabs are in the process of being poured, with work now having reached the third storey.
Stay tuned as construction progresses on the new dealership, and look for work to wrap sometime in the next year. In the meantime, tell us what you think of the project by checking out the associated Forum thread, or by leaving a comment in the space provided on this page.
