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A 45-storey condo tower just around the corner from Yonge and Richmond streets in Downtown Toronto is about to hit grade after about 20 months of construction work excavating the tight site and then forming the underground levels. Yonge + Rich, designed by architectsAlliance and Graziani + Corazza Architects for Great Gulf, will be an L-shaped building fitting around a low-rise heritage building at the corner of Victoria and Lombard streets.
Shoring work on Yonge + Rich began in October 2016, and eleven months later, excavation work was close to wrapping up in the southeast corner of the pit. At the same time, the first crane—which was installed in July 2017—was in use to get materials to the completed dig along the north side of the pit. Walls for lowest level—P7—had started to go in along the north side of the pit.
Over the last nine months, forming of the seven underground levels has gradually brought the building back up to ground level. The garage will hold 286 vehicles, with 240 of the spaces for residents and 46 for visitors. Most of the buildings 766 bicycle parking spaces will also be found on the garage levels.
As of today, a number of the forms onto which concrete for the ground level slab will be poured are now being assembled. Four podium levels, including the double-height ground level, will require special forms be built, but later in the summer work will reach the first of the tower floors, and then the pace of construction will increase as the same forms will be "flown" from floor to floor as each is completed. The building should top out around this time next year.
It will be 2020 before the building opens. When it does, it will add 682 new residential units to the area, plus retail at ground level as Yonge + Rich fills in a major gap in the urban fabric on the east side of the core. The 46th level of the building will include an outdoor pool and landscaped garden with panoramic views of the core.
Urban Toronto will be back with reports as construction of the building reaches various milestones. In the meantime, you will find more images and information in our database file for Yonge + Rich, linked below. You can get in on the conversation in one of our associated Forum threads, or you can leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
