Building on last week’s picks, here are five more of Toronto's most alluring residential towers at or nearing completion this summer.
1. Ice Condos at York Centre
Address: 12 York St
Developers: Lanterra Developments, Cadillac Fairview
Designer: architectsAlliance
Coolness: Want cool? You can't beat this pair of sleek Scandinavian-inspired towers—67 and 57 storeys—with Swiss cheese-like canopies that make Ice an invigorating addition to the burgeoning South Core, sprucing up our boxy skyline with some cylindrical-shaped action. The project also includes an office tower, yet to be built.
2. The L Tower
Address: 22 The Esplanade
Developers: Cityzen Development Group, Castlepoint Numa, Fernbrook Homes
Designer: Studio Daniel Libeskind, Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects
Coolness: There’s truly nothing else like this in TO, with inset balconies, bold-blue mullions, and a dramatic curve at the top that captivates while preventing the casting of shadows onto adjacent Berczy Park. It's a dazzler, but that’s how Cityzen and Castlepoint—which brought us Absolute World, aka Mississauga’s Marilyn Monroe towers—roll.
3. Aura at College Park
Address: 717 Bay St
Developer: Canderel
Designer: Graziani + Corazza Architects
Coolness: Canada’s tallest condo—for now, at least—this 78-storey monolith, visible from across the city and beyond, is emblematic of the renewal Canderel has brought to the College Park area. The tower created big buzz last week when the eye-catching LED lighting feature at the top of the tower was tested (it’ll be fully operational this fall).
4. Five St Joseph
Address: 5 St. Joseph St
Developers: MOD Developments, Graywood Developments, Diamond Corp, Tricon Capital
Designers: Hariri Pontarini Architects, ERA Architects
Coolness: With heritage buildings along Yonge and St. Joseph streets beautifully preserved and restored to their former glory, plus a lovely 48-storey condo tower that’s set back deeply behind them, Five offers a template for how future development should be done along other underdeveloped parts of the city's main drag.
5. The Yorkville
Address: 32 Davenport Rd
Developer: Lifetime Developments
Designer: Wallman Architects
Coolness: A pleasant surprise for those winding along Davenport toward Bay Street, with rust-coloured fins, an angled facade on one side, and two boxes that project out at the top of the tower. The Yorkville gets top marks for taking bold chances in a posh part of town that offers mostly conservative (unremarkable) architecture.
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