You’d be forgiven for not noticing the new condo tower rising from the Toronto Star lands at the foot of Yonge Street. For now, it just seems like another crane in the sky, but the ongoing construction project will soon become the tallest building not just in Toronto but anywhere from coast to coast.
That’s right, Canada’s next tallest building is already on its way up, and Pinnacle Developments’ flagship “SkyTower” in its Pinnacle One Yonge development will eventually soar a mind-boggling 105 storeys once all is said and done.
This enormous condo tower will be the focal point of the sprawling Hariri Pontarini-designed development, which has already added its first tower to the skyline.
However, it will be the now-rising second-phase SkyTower that redefines the city skyline with a staggering height of just over 345 metres.
Pinnacle International/Hariri Pontarini Architects
Just to put that height into perspective, the main skypod of the CN Tower (which is classified as a communications tower and not a building) sits just inches higher at 346 metres — meaning the upper reaches of this tower will be as prominent as the skyline-defining observation pod.
I want you all to take a moment to let that sink in. A building that will rise to the same level as the CN Tower’s observation deck is real and happening.
The SkyTower project will unseat First Canadian Place, which has held the crown of Canada’s tallest building with a height of 298 metres since 1975.
On top of its local and national importance, the tower is on track to rank as the world’s tenth-tallest all-residential building — with the only taller residential buildings in cities like Dubai, Chicago, and New York.
But this astonishing record-breaker wasn’t initially supposed to be quite so tall.
Pinnacle’s SkyTower came out the victor in a back-and-forth application war with Mizrahi Developments’ The One to lay claim to the title of Canada’s tallest.
The SkyTower was granted a height increase to 105 storeys in late 2023, beating out The One’s approved increase to 91 storeys granted earlier that year. Mizrahi would later be booted off his own project in early 2024, months after it was placed into receivership.
Construction at the site began in 2020 and has since progressed through its piling, excavation, and underground construction phases before beginning its vertical ascent above ground.
The tower now stands approximately 35 storeys high, with another 70ish floors to go before the tower reaches its architectural peak.
The tower’s rate of ascent has only increased in recent months following the forming of complex one-off floorplans that form a tapered shift between the tower’s podium and the smaller repeating floorplates that are now following this section.
Cladding installation has progressed above the tower base, offering a first glimpse of the reflective curtainwall glazing that will make up the main facades and the recessed window wall-type cladding enclosing facades that will be recessed behind balconies.
Part of the transition between the two sections is expressed in the form of a series of curved ribs that extend from the top of the podium and join the main tower facades above.
The tower crane being used to assist in the construction of this megalithic new building is fixed to the exterior of the tower’s west facade and is being extended one section at a time as the building races skyward.
Once complete, the SkyTower project will add almost 1,000 new condominium units to the neighbourhood, including the highest residential units in Canada.
