But while construction is just kicking off, this 47-storey building in midtown Toronto’s Yonge and St. Clair neighbourhood has been years in the making.
Slate Asset Management acquired its first properties at Yonge and St. Clair in 2013 and has been engaged in a long-term plan to revitalize the area ever since. Today, Slate owns 13 buildings in the region, including all four corners of this major midtown intersection. We have made substantial investments to upgrade and reposition our properties, in addition to installing eye-catching works of public art and other streetscape improvements that breathe new life into the area. For Slate, Yonge and St. Clair represents a long-term city-building effort, not a collection of one-off projects.
We understood early on that the parcel of land at 1 Delisle Avenue was special. The property sits at an important view terminus looking south on Yonge Street. It’s at the centre of the city, surrounded by major parks and ravines, and is just steps away from a major subway station, as well as light rail transit. In 2015, Slate sought out and acquired the property with the specific purpose of creating an ambitious new development that would reinvigorate the surrounding community and reimagine high-rise living in Toronto.
To realize our ambitions for the site, we reached out to the world’s top architects to reimagine what a residential tower in Toronto could be. We selected American architecture and urban design firm Studio Gang for their thoughtful and deliberate design approach, as well as their emphasis on sustainability, access to nature and community-building through architecture. One Delisle is Studio Gang’s first project in Canada, and the team – led by Founding Principal Jeanne Gang and Design Principal Weston Walker – visited Toronto frequently throughout the concept and design phase to tour the site, walk the surrounding neighbourhoods and parks, and immerse themselves in the history, geography, ecology and evolution of the area. The juxtaposition of a highly urbanized streetscape surrounded by unspoiled natural ravines and green spaces that typify Toronto’s landscape served as the inspiration for what ultimately became One Delisle’s iconic design.
The result was worth it. One Delisle is unique in many respects. It features a rectangular base that aligns with the historic streetscape and gradually transforms into a 16-sided, circular shape at the building’s summit – one of the only buildings in the world to do so – in acknowledgement of the tower’s prominence from many vantage points in the city. The design is comprised of a series of 8-storey-high elongated hexagonal modules that nest together as they spiral up the building. Some have described the design as reminiscent of a honeycomb or artichoke pattern. Gang herself has said she is inspired by patterns found in nature, which invariably pair functionality with beauty.