Controversial Point Tower to Reach the Sky….?

40 Wellesley Street, East, Toronto, Ontario Canada.

This slender point tower will provide another beacon in the downtown area, located at the Yonge Street and Wellesley intersection.

Sculpted carefully between two other high-rise developments, this 44-storey mixed use project will provide an up-lift, and a world-class ambiance in this vibrant international neighbourhood.

Issues of light, privacy, and light were carefully analyzed in the creation of this project, especially in view of the close proximity of the neighbouring developments.

214-Condominium Units, 126-Boutique Hotel units, and 3-Commercial floors will provide a total of 28,150 M2 of GFA. The Floor space index is 21.5.  Underground parking, and underground loading, creates a cleaner visual at street level. A subway and bus loop node is located approximately 30 meters from the development, an ideal location for intensification.

Each use will have a separate entrance, through a landscaped oasis under the up-lifted building. The entire Tower is lifted 9 meters from grade, to provide an animation to the street by exhibiting floating mezzanines enclosed by glass panels set in a landscaped environment. The mezzanine houses a restaurant, tea bar, and the Boutique Hotel check-in. This parkette like urban environment ties in with the  Kane House park, located east of 46 Wellesley Street, East.  

At the mid-point the tower is split by another up-lift. The Hotel and Condominium amenities are located here (e.g. poll, spa, health club, etc.).

The recommendations of a technical winds study were incorporated by the in principle elliptical shape of the floor plate.

Accentuating the pedestrian experience, and not being afraid to place mass to great height will add to the creation of an  ultimately vibrant, exciting, and beautiful world-class City.

All 3-D Modeling was executed in Archicad, transferred to 3-D max.  final rendering were created by Photoshop.  The accuracy achieved by #-D modeling is exact within mm.

The City of Toronto turned down the above noted proposal as it did not meet the design guidelines for point towers.

However, a subsequent owner was successful in front of the Ontario Municipal Board to obtain approval for a 37-storey building. This success was in part based upon an earlier ruling by the Ontario Municipal Board to create a larger set back to the proposed tower on the east side, as a result of the 44-storey Ontario Municipal Board hearing.  The City point tower guidelines were not entrenched in a City By-Law, the Board noted.

Architect: Hendrik Op ‘t Root Architect Ltd.