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Construction of Dupont Street’s largest development is moving quickly, with work progressing on multiple phases of the high-density Galleria on the Park master-planned community from Almadev. Located on the south side of Dupont Street between Dufferin Street and Emerson Avenue, the massive redevelopment of the aging Galleria Shopping Centre will see the delivery of eight new buildings encompassing a total of nearly 3,000 units by the time every phase is built.
Beginning with a look at Galleria 01 & 02, the Core Architects-designed first phase building features two towers rising to counts of 24 and 29 storeys above a shared podium. Beginning construction back in the Summer of 2020, the towers have grown to reach their final heights, having topped off in mid-June. With the concrete work now complete, both cranes remain active assisting in the cladding progress, which is now seeing exterior finishes applied to the western faces of both towers.
Viewing the building from the east, we can see that cladding progress on the eastern facade is trailing slightly behind, with the first pieces of the exterior envelope appearing on the south tower in the last few weeks.
Just to the west of Galleria 01 & 02, the new Wallace Emerson Community Centre is rising above its location on the western edge of the site. Worked into the larger Galleria plan as part of a land conveyance with the City of Toronto that resulted in a larger parkland dedication, the new community centre will replace the existing concrete building accessed from Dufferin Street, which will remain in operation until the new centre is completed. The large irregular footprint of the structure is still difficult to make out at this stage, but the two volumes we are seeing in the foreground and background of the image below will ultimately be conjoined as the construction process advances.
With Perkins&Will handling the design of this portion of the project, Principal and Director of the firm’s Toronto office, Andrew Frontini, shared a preview of the building’s exterior cladding mock up on Instagram in late-April. The metal panelling has been treated with a highly-reflective terracotta finish that is intended to appear in different colours depending on the direction of the light hitting its surface.
Finally, over in the northeastern corner of the site, the excavation for the secind phase Galleria III tower has seen a massive pit carved out where a McDonald’s once stood. With preparation work now on the cusp of completion, we can see that caisson walls have been constructed around the perimeter of the site and are thoroughly reinforced with tiebacks, while the remaining excavation on the western edge of the pit is wrapping up. The single crane has now been joined by a second on the north side of the pit, and both are working swiftly to create the concrete foundations for the Hariri Pontarini Architects-designed tower slated to rise 31 storeys.
With construction advancing well across the board on the site of Galleria on the Park, the subsequent phases that will further reduce what is left of the mall are likely to be getting underway before the end of the year.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, 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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