Nearly nine months after the September 2018 start of construction for Menkes Developments' Waterfront Innovation Centre, work on the new Sweeny &Co Architects-designed office development is progressing in Toronto's East Bayfront area. Adding to the growing collection of mid-rise commercial and institutional developments on this stretch of Queens Quay East, the 12-storey, 400,000 ft² building is working towards a 2021 completion date.

Looking south over the Waterfront Innovation Centre site, image by Forum contributor wmedia

We last checked in on progress back in January, when drilling rigs were wrapping up the project's shoring phase, and the first signs of excavation were evident. Over four months later, significant progress has been recorded for the project's east volume, where excavation of the three-storey, 197-space underground garage has bottomed out, and forming has begun on the foundations.

Aerial view of the east pit, image by Forum contributor smably

The project site is bisected by Dockside Drive, which remains open so far. On the west side of Dockside, the smaller section of the centre will go without underground levels, so here instead of a deep excavation, piles have been driven into the earth to support the ground floor slab and building above.

West component remains unexcavated, image by Forum contributor smably

Part of the East Bayfront area regeneration being overseen by Waterfront Toronto, the building will continue the transformation of the area from port uses to a mixed-use commercial, institutional and residential neighbourhood. The Waterfront Innovation Centre will be a working hours home to at least 2,000 workers upon opening, including lead tenant WPP, a multinational e-commerce, advertising, online media, public relations, communications, and branding services giant with will occupy 260,000 ft².

Watefront Innovation Centre, image via submission to City of Toronto

You can get more information about and see more renderings of the Waterfront Innovation Centre in our database file, linked below. You can get in on the discussion in our associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.

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