A recent global conference on tall building held in Toronto provided ample evidence that in the hands of skilled designers, skyscrapers can transcend the stereotypical built form to become much more than mere engineering triumphs.
Toronto’s 73-storey Frank Gehry-designed Forma East project from developers Great Gulf Group, Dream and Westdale Properties was highlighted as a case in point during a plenary session Oct. 7 at the four-day Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat International Conference, alongside projects from New York City and Jakarta.
The theme of the conference was From the Ground Up: Tall Buildings and City-Making.
“Structure is architecture and architecture is structure,” said session moderator Kim Garcia, a senior director at Tishman Speyer.
“The tall buildings we construct must exhibit equality at every level to enrich and sustain the networks that bind people, institutions and businesses together, shaping a city’s unique character and identity.”
Westdale Properties COO Mitchell Cohen noted the Forma project was originally a three-tower concept created by David Mirvish for Toronto’s entertainment district.
After multiple revisions and iterations it is now a two-tower ensemble, with the east tower currently under construction while the developers await improved market conditions to kick off the 84-floor second phase.
The east tower will have 830 condo units, 87 per cent of which have been sold, with completion targeted for 2029 or 2030, Cohen said.
Forma West will become the tallest Gehry-designed building in the world. Together, the two towers at 266-284 King Street West will contain over 2,000 condominiums as well as commercial and retail spaces and a new site for OCAD University.
Gehry’s masterpiece
“We take our job very seriously because we are putting something up on the skyline that’s going to last 100 years,” Cohen said in an interview.
“You want a legacy. But the legacy is not about me. The legacy is about the team. The legacy is bringing Frank Gehry’s masterpiece to Toronto. You know, Frank was born and raised here, and this is a great way to honour him.”
Architect Jeff Wauer of Gehry Partners said Gehry’s design for Forma pays tribute to historic Toronto buildings he has always loved, particularly the Old City Hall and the legislative building at Queen’s Park.
“The two towers were always developed in relation to each other,” he said. “We wanted that massing to have vitality to it as you move…through your experience within the city of Toronto.”
Permasteelisa Group of Italy was selected to design and build over 376,700 square feet of curtain wall win 7,500 units. Stainless steel is the dominant material.
“We developed them into developable geometries, which we then took and with further analysis, developed a macro pattern to the surface by changing the geometries of the panels,” explained Wauer. “Whether they’re tilted upward, neutral or downward, you can change whether they’re capturing the essence of the sky or the city.”
At one point, Cohen said, he turned to Gehry and said, “I can’t build this.”
“We worked for about a year. We had to make sure Frank’s vision was not watered down. We had to make sure the City of Toronto was happy with everything. And, as an owner, I had to make sure, at the end of the day, I can build this and then make a couple of dollars.”
‘Where combustion happens’
Other presentations featured the teams behind the new 60-storey JPMorgan Chase bank headquarters at 270 Park Ave. in New York City and the 75-storey mixed-use Autograph Tower in Jakarta.
Architect Nigel Dancey of Foster + Partners said the design goal for the JPMorgan Chase headquarters was to create a city within a city for 10,000 workers. A focal point is the sky lobby, called an “exchange.”
“This is really where combustion happens, where people meet,” said Dancey.
Michael Wiener, design director of PT Putragaya Wahana, said Jakarta’s focus on the automobile has resulted in an “incredibly disconnected” environment.
“We wanted to change everything. We wanted to put everything in one place that would give people the ability to have the kind of lifestyle that in a place like Toronto or London or New York, you take for granted,” he said.
The conference ran Oct. 6 to 9. At the end of day two, the council’s name was officially changed to the Council on Vertical Urbanism.
