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With shovels already in the ground, the final details are being ironed out for Minto Communities GTA's new condominium tower coming to Church Street in Downtown Toronto. Known as The Saint, the Wallman Architects-designed project was resubmitted to the City for Site Plan Approval (SPA) in the final days of 2020. The latest SPA application follows a previous submission from June, 2020, addressing comments and concerns laid out by City staff regarding the 46-storey condominium tower's specifics.
A number of minor changes and refinements have been introduced, including several pertaining to the building's exterior. Accompanied by revised renderings, the December, 2020 SPA covers a wide range of refinements that stretch from the lowest level deep underground to the tower's peak almost 151 metres in the skyline. While interior revisions are mostly minor in nature, tweaks to the exterior design are worth noting.
Architectural plans offer a clearer description of the materials shown in the updated renderings. On podium levels, materials include a grid of stone cladding framing shadow box glazing in a curtainwall cladding system, and sections of brick-patterned metal panel accent frames surrounding clear capless curtainwall and shadow box glazing, along with vertical strip accents of wood-faced panel cladding. The tower floors above are to feature a building envelope of window wall cladding with clear glazing, shadow box glazing, and integrated louvres, as well as strips of capless curtainwall. Balconies are to feature glass and aluminum guardrails with horizontal frit patterns.
Other exterior changes include a reduction in the height of a black parapet wall atop the west elevation of the northernmost podium volume. Above the podium, glazed guardrails have been stepped back from building facades. These podium changes have been introduced to form a better transition down to the adjacent property at 103 Church Street. Among other changes, atop the tower, canopies on amenity levels 46 and 47 have been removed.
Meanwhile, as what could be the project's final planning revisions are being circulated amongst City staff, excavation is well underway at the project site. Crews are digging down approximately 20 metres below grade to create space for the tower's foundations and a six-level underground garage serving residents, visitors, and retail patrons. Excavation will continue for another few months before a crane is raised, and underground forming begins to move back up towards street level. The Saint is set to top out 151 metres in the area skyline, bringing 419 new condominium units and new ground-floor retail space to the corner of Church and Lombard streets.
You can learn more from our Database file for the project, linked below. If you'd like to, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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