With our offices located at 1 Yonge St., surely you understand how we feel about the future of the site. When we first got wind of the land sale to Pinnacle International, and then the proposal for a series of towers, we eagerly anticipated some polished renderings. A few months ago, we received some slick renderings of 1 Yonge at street level and a rough architectural rendering that simply teased us. Well, our waiting is over, now that Hariri Pontarini has released these latest images!

The design of 1 Yonge

We recently had the pleasure of hearing David Pontarini discuss the future of glass tower designs at the Pug Talk. The use of a curtain wall system was one of the main topics of the forum, and Pontarini stated that his firm was employing one at the 1 Yonge project. For those who aren’t aware, a curtain wall system is when the skin of a building is nonstructural. The reason architects like working with a curtain wall system is because it allows for more creative freedom. The reason it’s not used that often in Canada? It can be expensive.

It looks like 1 Yonge will feature six new towers, totalling 6.3 million square feet of space. There will be one 40-storey office tower, a 70-storey hotel and branded residences, and four residential towers surrounding a courtyard. There will also be a significant amount of retail added at ground level, and possibly a connection to the PATH system, giving residents easy access to Union Station.

Opinions of 1 Yonge

We’ve said it a million times before, Hariri Pontarini is one of our favourite architecture firms. They always manage to design something that grabs your attention. The renderings are beautiful, a few of the towers have a unique shape that we haven’t seen in Toronto before, and it definitely seems like a project that is worthy of the iconic address!

Another thing we like is the project’s air of sophistication. This cluster of glass towers proves that not all glass towers look the same and that Toronto is refining its art of condo building. Like we said, our team at NewInHomes.com holds this address near and dear to our hearts, and this rendering has made us very excited for 1 Yonge’s future.

What do you think of the design? Let us know in the comments!