King Toronto, announced in 2016, designed by Copenhagen-born Bjarke Ingels.Dave LeBlanc/The Globe and Mail
With the exception of Commerce Court North (1931) or the Royal York Hotel (1929), much of what we see as the Toronto skyline – until recently but we’ll get to that – was constructed during the great postwar building boom that spanned from the late-1950s to the late-1980s. That’s when local stars such as John C. Parkin or Peter Dickinson made their mark, alongside internationally acclaimed architects such as I.M. Pei (the rest of Commerce Court), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (TD Centre) and Edward Durell Stone (First Canadian Place).
Similarly, since the late-1990s Toronto has been enjoying another boom, which has resulted in entirely new districts, such as “South Core,” the Canary District, the waterfront east of Yonge Street, and the proliferation of condominium towers in practically every neighbourhood. But, even a casual glance at the headlines in 2025 suggests that this boom is over: in October, The Globe reported that, according to analytics firm Urbanation Inc., “Preconstruction sales have fallen to a 30-year low, while a growing number of large-scale projects are being cancelled.”
A stroll through the works of Canada’s Edwardian architect, Frank Darling
However, with the lag-time between sales, shovels in the ground and actual bricks-and-mortar (or steel-and-glass), 2026 will still hold delights and surprises for the architecture aficionado.
Here are four projects that will continue to rise – and perhaps be capped off – that I’ll be watching.
One Delisle holds true to the architect’s original sketch.Dave LeBlanc/The Globe and Mail
One Delisle
(1 Delisle Ave., developer: Slate Asset Management; architect: Studio Gang, Chicago)
Announced back in 2017, this 16-sided, 47-storey, circular tower was penned by Jeanne Gang, an award-winning Chicago-based architect and educator. Interestingly, while Ms. Gang holds the record of “tallest building in the world designed by a woman,” the 101-floor/363 metres-high St. Regis Chicago (hotel and residences), she is better known as a socially responsible designer sensitive to the pedestrian realm and for her love of biophilic design, which connects end-users to nature.
When I interviewed Ms. Gang back in 2021, I asked if One Delisle had been inspired by a pine cone or an artichoke. “Both an artichoke and a pine cone – and a sunflower for that matter – there’s a spiralling organization of the seeds, the petals,” she said. “It’s nature solving a packing problem.”
With the people-packing (occupancy) set for this year or next, I visited the site last week. And, unlike some projects, it holds true to Ms. Gang’s original sketch. And the way the base is organized to project west onto Delisle Avenue means Janet Rosenberg & Studio’s landscaping will make a real impact.
The taller Forma tower, at 308-metres, will be the tallest Frank Gehry-designed building in the world.Dave LeBlanc/The Globe and Mail
Forma
(266 King St. W., developer: Dream Unlimited Corp., Great Gulf, Westdale Properties; architect: Frank Gehry, Los Angeles)
This one goes back even further: 2012 to be exact, when theatre impresario David Mirvish was behind the project, and Frank Gehry was alive, kicking (and giving the finger at press conferences), and 83 years old. Then, it was reported that the three towers would necessitate demolition of Mr. Mirvish’s Princess of Wales Theatre (which this writer thinks is a wonderful example of 1990s design by Englishman Peter Smith of Lett/Smith Architects).
Frank Gehry, legendary architect of some of world’s most iconic buildings, dies at 96
Without going into great detail, the past 14 years has witnessed not only the death of the Toronto-born Mr. Gehry, but a redesign that reduced the project to two towers of 73 and 84 storeys with the retention of the theatre. This will make the taller one, at 308 metres, not only the tallest Gehry-designed building in the world, but one of just a handful of Toronto “supertall” skyscrapers (over 300 metres).
Standing in David Pecaut Square, gazing at the stainless-steel cladding being applied to Forma East (the shorter tower), I wish it formed a linked, sculpted pattern that continued right to the top, like Manhattan’s 8 Spruce; instead, these wrinkly panels seem to be randomized.
This might be the most adventurous structure to rise in Toronto in several years.Dave LeBlanc/The Globe and Mail
King Toronto
(489 King St. W., developer: Westbank, Allied; architect: Bjarke Ingels Group, Denmark)
A 10-minute walk west of Forma, this architectural mountainscape is part-Habitat 67, part child’s building block fantasy, and, to my eye, the most adventurous structure to rise in Toronto since OCAD’s “flying tabletop” by Will Alsop (completed in 2004).
Announced in 2016, King Toronto comes from the fertile and relatively young mind (born 1974) of Copenhagen-born Bjarke Ingels, who started his practice in 2005 and, in 20 years, has grown it to 700 employees. According to ArchDaily.com, Mr. Ingels espouses a philosophy called “Hedonistic Sustainability,” which seeks to answer the question of how “sustainability can be playfully and responsibly integrated into buildings to actually increase standards of living.”
Standing on Brant Street just north of King Street West, despite having to swivel my neck in both directions to take it all in, the friendly massing, glass block walls and the incorporation of lovely red-brick heritage buildings suggests this will be one of the most civilized and interesting places to live in the city.
This will be the tallest building in Canada, once it’s completed.Dave LeBlanc/The Globe and Mail
Skytower
(1 Yonge St., developer: Pinnacle International; architect: Hariri Pontarini Architects, Toronto)
When Skytower is completed, it will be the tallest building in Canada at 106 storeys and 352 metres. So, should it be more sculptural? Should it make the same sort of bold statement Beijing’s Ma Yangsong’s “Marilyn Monroe” towers did for Mississauga in 2006?
I’ve met University of Toronto-educated David Pontarini on a number of occasions. He’s tall, soft-spoken, and is usually dressed in well-tailored clothing … and his buildings, I think, are like that. And considering Skytower will be part of an assemblage of six buildings, all clustered rather close together, I think it’s okay to be the strong, semi-silent type.
Now that Skytower has reached over 100 storeys, it is visible from kilometres away. Yet, no matter how close one gets, it doesn’t overwhelm.