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As more buildings get taller and taller in Toronto, an increasing number of buildings here are being built with 'sky lobbies,' an intermediary level where passengers on one elevator transfer to another one to continue their journey up or down a building. This solution to dealing ever increasing height was first hit upon in Chicago's 1969-built John Hancock Center.
To efficiently serve the upper floors of the 100-storey, 344-metre tower, a 'lobby' was built on the 44th floor which serves only the tower's residential levels from 45 to 92. Residents of the tower's upper levels use express elevators to bypass the first 43 office levels and travel directly to the sky lobby, before boarding 'local' elevators to reach their destination floors.
The sky lobby has become much more prevalent in subsequent years, with the first towers containing multiple sky lobbies — the original World Trade Center towers — constructed in New York in 1972 and 1973, with each tower featuring sky lobbies on the 44th and 78th floors. Sky lobbies are now familiar features in skyscrapers around the world, and can be found in each of the top three tallest buildings (as of 2016).
In Toronto, sky lobbies exist in several buildings including the St Regis Hotel and Residences, and the Residences of 488 University, and will also be used in 'The One' which is now under construction. In cases where where new floors are being added above existing towers in redevelopments like at 1 St Clair West, sky lobbies are becoming the norm.
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From 2015 to 2017, UrbanToronto and its sister publication, SkyriseCities, ran an occasional series of articles under the heading Explainer. Each one took a concept from Urban Planning, Architecture, Construction, or other topics that often wind up in our publications, and presented an in depth look at it. It's time to revisit (and update where necessary) those articles for readers who are unfamiliar with them. While you may already know what some of these terms mean, others may be new to you. We are publishing or updating and republishing Explainer on a weekly basis. This article is an update to one originally published in 2016.
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