L-Tower marks new phase in Toronto’s downtown

A new 58-storey tower is among many changing the skyline of downtown Toronto. The 58-storey L-Tower at the corner of Yonge Street and the Esplanade which topped off last month has a tapered north facade and is joined to the renovated Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (hence the “L”). The signature glass and steel tower is close to the iconic group of banking towers that have defined Toronto’s downtown skyline for about 20 years, but stands a little to the east.

International architect Studio Daniel Libeskind along with Toronto’s Page & Steele/IBI Group Architects designed the tower for Castlepoint Realty. The building has almost 600 condominium units and amounts to a total 504,000 square feet, stands 205 metres high, and is due for completion in 2013.

The development for also incorporates a new public plaza on the west side towards the financial district.

Structural engineer is Jablonsky, Ast and Parners; mechanical-electrical engineer is Smith and Andersen, and heritage consultan is ERA. Dominus is the contractor.

During the topping off ceremony, members of the Vancouver-based Aeriosa Dance Society twirled down the north facade to the sounds of J.S. Bach’s “Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello.”

Libeskind, who also designed the Royal Museum of Ontario’s dramatic protruding glass crystal on Bloor Street West, said his goal for the L-Tower was to create an iconic building for Toronto. “The L Tower is shaped by the unusual quality of the light and by the general atmosphere of the site. Together with the Sony Centre, it signals an exciting new sense of place in a diverse and vibrant urban context.”

Toronto has over 16 towers under construction and several more recently completed.