A walkable stretch of Kingston Road is getting a new boost of residential density, with construction underway at the site of Mitchell & Associates' Beech House. Located a few blocks west of Victoria Park Avenue, the Richard Ziegler Architect-designed mid-rise condominium and YMCA location got its start in late-2015, with the former Kingston Road YMCA (and subsequent condominium sales centre) demolition. By early 2016, shoring was well underway, with the completion of excavation coming last October. More recently, a tower crane was erected, and work has now commenced on forming the foundations, as well as the first of the building's underground levels.

Facing east on Kingston Road toward Beech House, image by Craig White

This underground portion—expected to rise over the course of the next few months—will serve the seven-storey structure above with a four-level garage of 177 parking spaces, divided between 112 residential spots, and 65 spaces shared between residential visitors, YMCA users, and the general public, while the closet level to the surface will serve as part of the new 46,935 ft² home for the Kingston Road YMCA, which will also occupy the bulk of the ground floor. 

Below grade construction at Beech House, image by Craig White

In addition to an expanded important community amenity, the building will contribute a boost of density to the Upper Beach neighbourhood with 91 new homes. The units will come in a mix of 54 one-bedroom and 37 two-bedroom units.

Facing west on Kingston Road toward Beech House, image by Craig White

Elevation diagrams outline the materials that will clad the structure's exterior. At ground level, the building will meet the south side of Kingston Road with a wall of storefront glazing, framed by extruded aluminium. Windows will feature a bird-friendly pattern that will also extend across the balcony glazing on the two levels above. The bulk of the exterior will be clad in a combination of prefinished aluminum panels for dark sections and exterior insulation finishing system (EIFS) for light sections.

Beech House, image retrieved from submission to City of Toronto

Additional information and renderings can be found in the project's dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment using the field provided at the bottom of this page.