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The One Bloor West is being erected in downtown Toronto and has reached 300 meters in height during construction. The tower is moving towards the final 308.6 meters that will make it Canada’s first supertall.
According to a report by New Atlas, the structure has 85 floors and is scheduled for completion in 2028.
Therefore, it will surpass the First Canadian Place, inaugurated in 1976 with 298.1 meters, as the tallest building in Canada. The project is designed by the British firm Foster + Partners and the Canadian Core Architects.
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The supertall category is reserved by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) for buildings over 300 meters. Before the tower, Canada did not have any buildings in this range.
According to the CTBUH, only 218 buildings worldwide have crossed this threshold. The vast majority are in Dubai, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York, and Chicago.
Sheldon Della Cantera: the Italian who founded Tridel in 1934
According to Tridel, the construction is being carried out by the Canadian developer, the largest in the country for residential buildings.
The company was founded in 1934 by Sheldon Della Cantera, an Italian immigrant from Rome who arrived in Toronto at the age of 19.
According to Tridel’s data, the developer has delivered more than 90,000 housing units in 92 years of operation in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.
The supertall will have 476 luxury residential units, commercial space on the lower floors, and a five-star hotel in part of the 85 floors.
Therefore, it is considered the largest vertical mixed-use project ever undertaken by the builder. The total investment estimated by the Canadian market is around CAD 2.5 billion, equivalent to R$ 9.1 billion.
Norman Foster: the external structure of One Bloor West in bronze weighs 4,200 tons
Foster + Partners is the British firm founded by Norman Foster in 1967.
The studio is responsible for towers such as the 30 St Mary Axe (Gherkin) in London, the Hearst Tower in New York, and the Apple Park in Cupertino, California.
According to the studio, the tower’s facade uses structural glass coupled with an external structure in solid bronze. The bronze was chosen to create contrast with the silver tone of Toronto’s financial skyline.
The external bronze structure of the supertall weighs about 4,200 tons and uses a specific alloy developed in partnership with an Italian foundry in Florence.
The Canadian Core Architects, founded in 1996 by architect Babak Eslahjou, acts as the local architect, with technical responsibility for the execution of the work.
The William Luke Buildings of 1883 survived the tower’s demolition
The project preserved two historic facades of the William Luke Buildings, built in 1883 in Victorian style.
According to the Heritage Property Designation of the Toronto City Hall, the facades had to be dismantled.
Each of the two facades was cataloged stone by stone, with 12,400 elements manually numbered, and reinstalled at the base of the tower.
Therefore, modern mechanical equipment was embedded within the historic structures to maintain visual integrity.
According to chief engineer Marco Tedesco, the preservation operation of the William Luke Buildings took 18 months and involved three teams specialized in heritage restoration, totaling 67 professionals.
Additionally, the heritage preservation budget totaled CAD 18 million, spent only on the dismantling and reassembly of the two Victorian facades.
Babak Eslahjou and the leap from 298 to 308 meters in Toronto’s skyline
The First Canadian Place, headquarters of the Bank of Montreal, was inaugurated in 1976 and dominated the Canadian skyline for 50 years with 298.1 meters.
The Aura at College Park, with 272 meters, has been the second tallest in the city since 2014.
Therefore, Toronto is now rapidly advancing in the vertical race. According to the CTBUH, five new buildings over 250 meters are under simultaneous construction in the Canadian city.
Babak Eslahjou, from Core Architects, was the technical responsible who detailed the 10-meter leap between the former record holder and the new national record holder.
Additionally, the real estate boom parallel to São Paulo and Buenos Aires reflects high residential demand in the Bloor-Yonge axis.
Mirvish+Gehry: Frank Gehry’s studio will lower the building in 2030
The Canadian supertall will not hold the national record for long.
The same Toronto is receiving the SkyTower, also known as The One. The project is signed by the same Foster + Partners in partnership with the Australian studio Mirvish+Gehry.
According to the CTBUH, the SkyTower will be 351.9 meters, with completion scheduled for 2030. It will take the title of the tallest in Canada just two years after the tower’s delivery.
Therefore, the Bloor-Yonge axis is transforming into the main front of vertical construction in North America outside the United States.
Five buildings will exceed 300 meters in Toronto by 2030. The city will enter the exclusive club of megacities with multiple supertalls.
Where One Bloor West fits among the 218 supertalls in the world
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai has led the world ranking with 828 meters since 2010.
The Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur is second with 678.9 meters, inaugurated in 2024. In third is the Shanghai Tower with 632 meters, from 2015.
- Burj Khalifa (Dubai): 828 m, completed in 2010, Skidmore Owings & Merrill
- Merdeka 118 (Kuala Lumpur): 678.9 m, completed in 2024, Fender Katsalidis
- Shanghai Tower (Shanghai): 632 m, completed in 2015, Gensler
- One Bloor West (Toronto): 308.6 m, scheduled for 2028, Foster + Partners
- Empire State Building (New York): 381 m, completed in 1931, William F. Lamb
According to the CTBUH, the supertall ranks among the top 100 tallest in the world under construction. It does not reach the top 30 but redefines the North American supertall category outside the USA.
For comparison with ongoing urban works, see coverage of Tokyo, New York, and Frankfurt in vertical construction and the Tengeh park in Singapore.
Four Seasons, Aman, and Mandarin compete for the five-star hotel
The construction schedule places the final topping for the second half of 2027, with the glass facade completed by the end of the same year.
Therefore, the delivery of the first residential units is scheduled for mid-2028, according to Tridel.
The 476 residential units have already been sold during the incorporation phase, with pre-sales financing the construction.
According to New Atlas, the five-star hotel within the complex is in the phase of selecting an international hotel brand.
There is no official announcement about the operating brand. Canadian market estimates point to interest from Four Seasons, Aman Resorts, and Mandarin Oriental.
The bronze supertall enters Canadian history as the country’s first supertall. However, its solitary reign may be short-lived.
According to urban analysts, the 351.9-meter SkyTower arrives in 2030 and may demote the tower to second place shortly after its delivery.
However, for investors who purchased the 476 luxury residential units, the status of living in Canada’s first supertall will remain intact for at least the first 24 months of the Toronto development.
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