London-based architecture firm WilkinsonEyre got the nod from developers Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines to design Bay Park Centre, a $2 billion, 3 million-sf complex in downtown Toronto.
The Globe and Mail reports that the 81 Bay Street and 141 Bay Street office towers feature a glass façade wrapped around a diagonal structural grid, consisting of 10-story-tall steel diamonds that rise off the sides of the building. On the interior, bays and lounges fill the space created by the diamond protrusions.
The complex sits above a commuter bus station and next to Union Station, the busiest transit center in Canada. A one-acre elevated green space four stories above the ground will connect the two towers and serve as a plaza for workers in the buildings. The space will have slopes and hills, gardens, and shade groves.
Two Toronto firms, architect Adamson Associates and landscape architect Public Work, are also involved in the project. The first phase of the plan, the 54-story, 1.3 million-sf 81 Bay Street tower, has been approved.
(Click photos to enlarge)
Related Stories
| Feb 21, 2013
Holl videos discuss design features of Chengdu ' Porosity Block' project
Architect Steven Holl has released two short films describing the development of Sliced Porosity Block in Chengdu, China.
| Feb 21, 2013
Construction team chosen for world's tallest building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Construction team chosen for world's tallest building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
| Feb 17, 2013
Pakistan to get world's tallest tower in $45 billion deal
Newly signed mega deal will fund construction of several massive developments in Karachi, including a mixed-use tower that will dwarf the Burj Khalifa.
| Feb 13, 2013
'Vegetative tower' apartments to revive NYC site
A Manhattan site formerly slated for development with a "tower of cubes"—a now-defunct project by Santiago Calatrava—will be revived with a 998-foot, 300,000-sf apartment building by Morali Architects.
| Jul 9, 2012
Modular Construction Delivers Model for New York Housing in Record Time
A 65-unit supportive housing facility in Brooklyn, N.Y., was completed in record time using modular construction with six stories set in just 12 days.
| Jul 2, 2012
San Francisco lays claim to the greenest building in North America
The 13-floor building can hold around 900 people, but consumes 60% less water and 32% less energy than most buildings of its kind.
| Jun 13, 2012
Thornton Tomasetti founding principals receive CTBUH Fazlur R. Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal
This is the first time the CTBUH Board of Trustees has awarded the prize to two individuals jointly.
| Jun 8, 2012
Thornton Tomasetti/Fore Solutions provides consulting for renovation at Tufts School of Dental Medicine
Project receives LEED Gold certification.
| Jun 6, 2012
KPF designs tower for Yongsan IBD
The master plan, created by Studio Daniel Libeskind, is a dynamic urban environment containing contributions from 19 different architects practicing in diverse locations around the globe.
| Jun 6, 2012
SOM urges Chicago tenants to partner with landlords to cut energy use
Tenants can exceed building energy challenge targets recently announced by Mayor Emanuel.
