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The sudden demolition of the Stollerys building at Yonge and Bloor Streets in Toronto's Uptown core has been the topic of much conversation on UrbanToronto and elsewhere in the media for the past few days. Those weighing in with their comments on yesterday's front page story are split between those would are upset with the loss of an over 80 year-old building with carved stonework, while others do not see the removal of the compromised building as a significant heritage loss. The haste with which the building is coming down adds complications to the story.
Mizrahi Developments, owners of the site, have hired world renowned architecture firm Foster + Partners to design a new tower for 1 Bloor West, a development which has been dubbed The One by owner Sam Mizrahi. Amongst Foster's landmark buildings around the world are the HSBC Building in Hong Kong, 30 St. Mary Axe in London (best known as The Gherkin), and the Hearst Building in New York City.
The Hearst Building has been cited by some recently in our Stollerys coverage as a potential model for how Foster could have incorporated heritage architecture into The One, as the modern 46-storey Hearst Building rises from the 1928 cast stone facade of the previous Hearst Building. Entirely coincidentally, but in a timely fashion for us, a video of Sir Norman Foster touring the Hearst Building was posted on The Hearst Corporation's YouTube channel on January 14th. Celebrating the building's tenth anniversary, the video uses footage shot from a drone as it flies through the building's impressive spaces.
Stollerys is a fraction of the size of the original Hearst Building, and the land assembly for The One is smaller than the Hearst Building site as well, so comparisons between the Toronto and New York sites should take that into consideration.
It is not known yet what design inspirations Foster is picking up on for The One, but the proposed tower for Yonge and Bloor's southwest corner is expected to be in the 80 storey range. If realized, The One would join two other Foster + Partners designs in Toronto—U of T's Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building, and York University Station on the TTC's Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension, currently under construction—while Foster was also hired to design the redevelopment of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Front Street, a project which has gone quiet since Toronto City Council refused a casino for the city last year.
UrbanToronto will keep an eye on all things Foster in Toronto as the proposals and subway construction progress. In the meantime, you can jump into the discussions by visiting our thread on The One, acquainting yourself with the subway station plans via the link below, or by leaving a comment in the space provided on this page.
