Minto Communities GTA’s latest Downtown Toronto development, The Saint, is increasingly making its presence felt after months of construction, as the project’s podium has topped off above Church Street. Designed by Wallman Architects, work continues on two transitional levels and is just beginning on the project’s more slender tower floor-plates above, striding towards an eventual count of 47 storeys, as work advances into the process of forming the repeating tower floors.
The image above, captured on February 3rd, provides an effective summary of the work taking place on the site lately. Since our last update in May, 2022, the project has climbed through the forming of five full levels (plus a mezzanine) of the building’s podium, each with unique floor-plans. With added challenges in the form of design features like the double height grade level, and building systems like the service vehicle access, the completion of the podium will mark a boost in construction speed moving forward.
A week later, another image shows how one of the building’s defining visual features is beginning to emerge above the podium, the two-storey ‘reveal’ that transitions from the podium to the tower proper. The uppermost slab, seen cantilevering slightly over the west and south elevations at level nine, represents the tower’s first floor; the two transitional floors below, with a subtle setback from the podium, represent the reveal, and will be glazed in the same curtainwall system seen across the tower.
On The Saint’s south elevation, another architectural detail is also in the early stages of being brought to life; adding more formal distinction to the recessed reveal section, the design incorporates an angled south elevation that creates angled outdoor terrace spaces on the roof of the podium. Looking at the concrete forms, we can see that very angle being worked into the reveal levels, specifically on the 8th floor slab.
Meanwhile, on the west elevation, the northernmost section of the podium has seen the application of some early insulating materials in advance of the building’s first exterior finishings. Interestingly, while the majority of the podium is slated to be clad in metal panelling, this particular section will receive a graphite brick treatment, and will act as the visual buffer between the project and its neighbour to the north, a unique art-deco heritage building.
With a total offering of 418 units, The Saint is on track to deliver density to an era experiencing rapid intensification. As the tower’s lowest levels come together, the first traces of the project’s high-quality materials, featuring extensive amounts of curtainwall, should be seen in the coming months.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you’d like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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