Construction of Canada's tallest building began last August at the southwest corner of Yonge and Bloor in Downtown Toronto, with the ground breaking ceremony for Mizrahi Developments' The One following in October, making it official that construction for the 85-storey luxury condo, retail, and hotel tower was underway.

Designed by Foster + Partners with Core Architects, the project's early stages have involved a complex shoring process needed to anchor the tower's structural exoskeleton to the foundations, as well as preparations for a heritage building move.

Aerial view of The One site at Yonge and Bloor, image by Forum contributor Benito

Most recently, crews from Michael Bros Excavation have arrived on scene with two excavators that have already removed a sizeable quantity of soil from the site. The One will mark the first local instance of high-rise top-down construction. To accomplish this, basement slabs will provide lateral bracing for the perimeter foundation walls, with the ground and first below-grade level to be formed as excavation continues below. Once the ground and P1 levels take shape, the subsequent below-grade levels will then be formed from the “top down.”

Excavation at site of The One, image by Forum contributor Benito

On the east side of the site beside where initial digging is underway, a designated heritage building at 776-778 Yonge Street has now propped up on steel I-beam supports by McCulloch Laurie Building Moving. The heritage storefronts will eventually be incorporated into the base of the new tower.

Excavation at site of The One, image by Forum contributor androiduk

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.