In the month since we last checked in on construction at The Well, the excavation for the block-sized mixed-use development at Front and Spadina has grown considerably. With several residential towers, a office tower, and extensive retail and public space to come, this is largest construction project in Toronto. At the time of our last update in mid-May, the first support columns for the P3 parking level had taken shape at the east end of the site, while a 690,000 cubic metre excavation continued to the west. 

Aerial view of The Well site, image by Jack Landau

In the weeks since, forming for the footprint of the 36-storey office tower has made quite a bit of progress along the site's Spadina frontage, while daily processions of roughly 500 dump trucks continue to remove excavated material further to the west.

A line of dump trucks waits to haul excavate offsite, image by Craig White

Two cranes and two concrete pumps are working away on the underground levels of the office tower, with structural columns for the lowest parking level and the first signs of an elevator core now apparent at the base of the pit. Below grade forming is furthest along at the north end of the site's east side up against the old McGregor Sock Company building (now home to Stantec), where walls for the parking level and foundation are now in place.

East side of The Well site, image by Craig White

To the west, the scale and coordination of the site's excavation continue to impress passersby. Equipment from GFL can be seen breaking apart shale, digging up the remnants, and loading the excavate into dump trucks, but what happens to the excavate once trucked off-site? Trucks travel just shy of four kilometres east of the excavation site, where the earth is being used for the ongoing Cherry Street Lakefilling project at Essroc Quay in the Port Lands.

Excavation at The Well site, image by Craig White

Various aspects of the development have been tasked to a handful of firms. The Well's office component that is now being formed at the east end of the site features a design by Hariri Pontarini Architects with Adamson Associates Architects serving as Executive Architects. The podiums feature the same design team mentioned above, while the complex's retail spaces are designed by BDP Architects. The future residential towers facing Wellington Street are being designed by Wallman Architects, while architectsAlliance are designing the Front Street-facing towers.

Facing west across The Well site, image by Craig White

Developers behind The Well include Diamond Corp, Allied Properties, RioCan, Tridel, and Woodbourne.

You can find extensive imagery of The Well in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to talk about it? You can get in on the ongoing conversation in our associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.