For the last several years, Tridel, along with partner Hines—and under the auspices of Waterfront Toronto—has been working on turning Toronto's barren, formerly industrial East Bayfront area into a new waterfront community called Bayside. Tridel's first building in the area, Aqualina, is soon to be complete, its second building Aquavista is under construction, and its third building Aquabella sold very well and is preparing to go under construction this Fall.

Early rendering for Bayside, before Aquabella or The Waves were designed, image by Arcitectonica for Tridel

For Aquabella, Tridel ran an architectural competition to find a design for the building. The competition was won by 3XN of Copenhagen, and the tiered design, with many suites boasting rooftop terraces facing the lake, has proven popular on UrbanToronto. Now, Tridel and 3XN (which stands for Three Times Neilsen) are continuing their relationship on the next market condominium planned for the Bayside neighbourhood, to be known as The Waves at Bayside.

Preliminary design, Looking northeast to The Waves at Bayside, designed by 3XN for Tridel

The Waves will be the furthest east building in Bayside, an area south of Queens Quay between Sherbourne Common and the Parliament Street Slip. Running up The Waves' west side will be Merchants' Wharf, a new U-shaped neighbourhood street connecting to Queens Quay at its two ends, while to the south and east of The Waves will be a new extension of the Waterfront Promenade, and then, well, waves: Toronto Harbour is to the south, while the Parliament Slip will become a new marina location.

Site plan for Bayside. The Waves is seen at the right. Image by 3XN for Tridel.

The design of the building—which is preliminary—has come to light as it has just made its first trip to Waterfront Toronto's Design Review Panel, the initial review focused on the identification of any issues which the design team will be asked to address, or which the team has identified already. At this stage those issues are typically planning matters regarding such things as massing, but that said, renderings of the proposal show an already highly-evolved architectural design, with aesthetics in mind as well.

Angled balconies and terraces give all suites lake views at The Waves, image by 3XN for Tridel

The building is shaped as a block-long slab whose middle has been carved away, with the removed mass redistributed at the ends, creating two peaks. The building's exterior is then carved at 45° angles so that all suites have views toward the lake, while balconies and terraces extend the living outdoors. As the building steps back on higher floors toward each peak, a large percentage of the suites benefit from the steps with spacious terraces. Where the terraces of the two peaks split apart, the building's shared amenities are found, both indoor spaces such as party rooms, and an expansive deck space with outdoor swimming pool.

A pedestrian passage is planned opposite the end of Edgewater Drive, image by 3XN for Tridel

The building's design, the architects say, is good not just for its residents, but for other locals and visitors to the community as well. Opposite the end of Edgewater Drive, a pedestrian passage is carved into the building to make access to the Parliament Street Slip with its boats, waterfront promenade, and shops and restaurants easy (the double-height ground floor of The Waves is taken over mostly by retailers and a community centre), while those who live in buildings facing The Waves will not face the solid wall which is currently allowed by zoning, but will be able to see over and around the building far more easily.

The Parliament Slip with its boats and promenade will be activated by retail and balconies, image by 3XN for Tridel

In fact, the bulk of the design review document produced for The Waves deals with the proposal's massing, and how it differs from what going on the site currently allows. While the document argues the benefits of the carved peaks of the proposal, it notes that the resulting reallocated massing brings the building's height up to 55.3 metres at the north end, and 65.1 metres at the south end, whereas zoning allows for currently allows for 44 metres and 46 metres respectively. If The Waves is granted rezoning for its altered massing, it will be the highest building south of Queens Quay in this neighbourhood by a couple of storeys.

We will be back to look more closely at The Waves as the proposal progresses through the planning process, but in the meantime you will find more renderings in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to talk about it? You can join in on the conversation in our associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.