Canada’s tallest building is brand-new and over 300 metres tall
After a long saga of challenges and drama, the 85-storey megatower at One Bloor West officially claimed the title of Canada’s tallest building this week.
The enormous condo development long planned to take the title of Canada’s tallest from previous record-holder First Canadian Place finally delivered on that promise with a ceremony attended by media on Tuesday that saw the building officially surpass the 300-metre mark.
After 50 years of the 298-metre First Canadian Place’s dominance as the country’s tallest building, the centre of gravity for Toronto’s skyscraper scene has finally shifted away from the Financial District to a new linear core along the spine of Yonge Street.
But while One Bloor West has dethroned an aging titan as the tallest skyscraper in the country, its reign will last just a fraction of its predecessor — expected to be mere months.
At 309 metres, One Bloor West will live on in history as Canada’s first tower to reach to entirely arbitrary “supertall” classification of towers exceeding 300 metres in height — but it will be a much taller tower a few kilometres to the south on Yonge Street that will be known for years to come as Canada’s tallest.
- You might also like:
- Canada changes work permit eligibility for international students
- Ontario and B.C. residents moving to Alberta help keep one wild streak going
The culmination of a years-long Toronto skyscraper race that saw developers compete with ever-taller height increases, One Bloor West — while the first across the finish line to supertall status — will be remembered in the history books as the loser in this battle of titans.
The project faced numerous legal and construction challenges and was forced into receivership before seasoned developer Tridel eventually took over for embattled Mizrahi Developments.
As One Bloor West approached this milestone earlier this year, Jim Ritchie, President and CEO of Tridel, told blogTO that the upcoming achievement would be “a defining moment in the rise of One Bloor West, as it becomes Canada’s first supertall building.”
“As the building nears completion, it stands not only as a remarkable feat of architecture, but as a testament to the collaboration and collective effort of the teams who brought this landmark to life,” said Ritchie.
Meanwhile, with a series of height increases and fewer hurdles, Pinnacle International’s enormous SkyTower development at the foot of Yonge Street is now rising quickly to an approved height of 106 storeys.
Currently rising about 80 storeys towards that goal, SkyTower is poised to overtake One Bloor West in the months to come.
At roughly 345 metres tall, the building’s uppermost floors will be roughly eye-level with the CN Tower’s observation deck — far surpassing any building in the country with successively habitable floors.