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Two years after the demolition of the Guvernment nightclub at Queens Quay and Jarvis, the former footprint of the waterfront entertainment facility is abuzz with construction activity as work progresses on the Daniels Waterfront - City of the Arts development. Designed by RAW and Rafael + Bigauskas Architects, the project's first phase—a mixed-use office condominium component known as 130 QQE—is well underway, with the building's 11- and 14-storey volumes rising above a shared four-storey base.
130 QQE's two volume stand at heights of 9 and 10 storeys above the Queens Quay and Jarvis intersection, with cladding installation making swift progress. The exterior envelope will consist primarily of red and black brick, with the podium levels as well as the east tower volume being clad in red brick, while the west volume is being finished in a darker tone.
Seen above, a view of the west side reveals that angled cuts have been made to the red brick panels on the first and second level of the building. These cutaway sections mark the future location of the street-level entrance for the building's George Brown College campus.
Housing the Artscape Launchpad, the fourth floor of the west volume will feature a darker cladding material, the installation of which has yet to begin. Below, a rendering of this portion of the building shows the cladding plan in detail, while providing a glimpse of the project's northern extension of Sugar Beach.
The rendering above also offer a preview of the restaurant space that will help to tie the development in with the enhanced Queens Quay streetscape. Below, a look inside the west corner retail unit from late April shows the ongoing progress of steel assembly for the space's glazed exterior walls.
Up on the fourth floor of the shared podium structure, a view from within the future George Brown College space reveals the angled support columns that transfer loads between the second and fourth floors around the institution's indented floorplates.
Elsewhere in the building, the various office spaces remain in a relatively raw state. With concrete forming now only a few levels from completion and the first elements of the building envelope taking shape, work will continue behind the scenes for several months as crews fit out the interiors with plumbing, electrical, and finally the interior finishes.
In total, the 130 QQE office component will add 280,000 ft² of office and institutional space to the emerging East Bayfront, including the Quadrangle-designed Artscape Launchpad, and institutional space for George Brown College and OCAD U. At street-level, 27,000 ft² of retail space will anchor the building to the Queens Quay streetscape.
As it grows taller, the complex (seen at right, below) is establishing its position on the nascent skyline of Toronto's East Bayfront, rising alongside Great Gulf's Monde (left) and Hines / Tridel's Aqualina (centre).
To the immediate north of the office component, two Giannone Petricone-designed condominium towers with heights of 45 and 36 storeys will bring a residential presence to the site. Known as Lighthouse Tower and Lighthouse Tower East, the two will add a total of 554 residential units to the area. Sales are well underway for the Lighthouse Tower, while second phase Lighthouse Tower East is on track to launch this Spring.
Additional information and renderings can be found in our dataBase file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment using the space provided at the bottom of this page.
