In an area of the city quickly seeing new condos and residents moving in, it is often forgotten that Toronto's east end was the home of Ontario's first parliament buildings. After a successful across-the-street land swap between the City and developer Bresler to preserve an area for a future commemorative space, Bresler has been proceeding on the excavation for the Parliament Street Data Centre, the building they are erecting on their new piece of land. (The First Parliament Buildings site is buried beneath the parking lots on the left of the image below. A library and commemorative centre will be built there in a few years.)

Crews and excavators onsite at the Parliament Street Data Centre, image by Forum member Razz

Working over the large area by the intersection of Front and Parliament, crews have completed shoring and are digging down to the foundation level. Once completed, the WZMH Architects designed data centre will be 5 storeys tall with one level of below ground parking.

Excavators dig out the foundation of the Parliament Street Data Centre, image by Forum member CityPainter

Given the area's long industrial past and the size of the buildings footprint, this excavation was bound to produce some interesting suprises. Workers are therefore taking careful measures to ensure the area is safe for building. Old pipes and buried toxic wastes from the area's bigone heavy industrial past have been unearther during excavation, creating a unique environment for Bresler's contractors. All such contaminents are remediated so that the site is returned to a clean and safe state.

Degraded piping from the excavation site of the Parliament Street Data Centre, image courtesy of Forum member Razz

Post-industrial residue seeps through from beneath the Data Centre excavation site, image courtesy of Forum member Razz

The new structure will have a glass covered entry area on Parliament Street and be clad in a black and tan porcelaine facade designed to recall the earlier days of "punch card" computer technology. Boasting 22,000 m2, or approximately 236,000 sq ft of space for servers, mainframes and other clientele high-tech needs, the Data Centre will provide high-tech solutions for multiple firms. The developers are seeking a LEED silver certification.

Parliament Street Data Centre by WZMH Architects for Bresler

Urban Toronto will be sure to track the latest developments as work continues and the building takes form. Interested in learning more about the Parliament Street Data Centre? Head in to the Forum and see what people are saying, or check out the dataBase entry, both linked below.