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After being granted zoning approval by Toronto City Council to build a new office, condominium, and retail complex at 540 King West, developers Allied Properties REIT and Great Gulf have submitted documents for a revised Site Plan Approval application (SPA) for the 15-storey building in the King West neighbourhood, designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects working with Architect of Record Turner Fleischer.
The updated plans build off of the previous November, 2019 SPA which introduced an updated design for the complex. In the months since, the project team worked with City staff, the local councillor’s office, and the surrounding community to refine the project. With its zoning approved earlier this year, the latest SPA responds to the comments received after the last submission with an aim to iron out details and gain final approval.
Among the most obvious exterior changes introduced since the last version is a complete redesign of the building's podium, now taking a similar form as the rounded brick-clad base of the recently-completed King-Portland Centre complex a short distance to the west on King Street. The similarity is no coincidence, as the office components of both King-Portland Centre and 540 King West share the design/development team of Allied and Hariri Pontarini.
The current submission proposes a 24,045 m² building rising 50.66 metres measured to the top of an elevator overrun, and containing 7,532 m² of residential space, 1,814 m² of retail space accessed from both King St W and Brant St., and 15,699 m² of office space. The residential component would include 95 condominium units (increased from 80) in a mix of six studios, 57 one-bedrooms, 22 two-bedrooms, and 10 three-bedroom units. This section of the complex would be accessed via a residential lobby fronting onto Morrison Street, while the office component would be accessed through its own dedicated entrance and lobby, accessed via a retained heritage frontage along King Street West.
The heritage element is a two-storey red brick commercial building built around 1930, with plans calling to restore the south elevation and a portion of the east return wall, with the remaining building behind to be demolished. Due to the building's position set back well north of King Street, the entire south elevation would be stabilized and then relocated approximately five metres south of its current position for reintegration into the new complex's base.
Other changes include the introduction of a living wall on a portion of the east elevation, and changes to the cladding proposed for the residential component to the north, with the previous glazing-dominant treatment revised to include heavy use of opaque spandrel panels.
Additional information and images can be found in our Database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment below.
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