Aspen Ridge Home's Studio and Studio2 between Simcoe and Nelson streets in the city's Entertainment District has seen a steady pace of development despite this long and bitterly cold winter season. Looking west across Richmond street we are greeted with the bones of a tall, blunt 9-storey podium façade. Crews are currently working on the 9th floor, where the Mike Niven Interior Design's extensive "MeZone" and "WeZone" amenities will reside. Development has progressed on the large podium since November when crews were working on the third floor.

Studio's podium, looking west along Richmond St. W., image by Matthew Lavoie

Ground view looking west along Richmond St. W., image by Craig White

Once finished with the 9th floor, it is expected crews will begin focusing on the tower of Studio.

Studio's podium, image by Matthew Lavoie

At Duncan and Nelson crews have made large head-ways with Studio2 tower's foundation. At the end of last year work was quite a few storeys below grade. Now with March just around the corner, the foundation has progressed to the point where the future 41-storey tower is just about to reach grade.

Looking into the foundation of Studio2, image by Matthew Lavoie

This Quadrangle Architects' project is quite large, demanding three cranes on-site. The space between the two towers will be home to an extensive greenspace and deck area, allowing the residents of Studio and Studio2 to surround themselves with lush vegetation right in the middle of the concrete jungle of downtown Toronto.

Looking north-west at Studio and Studio2 podiums, image by Matthew Lavoie

Rendering of Studio2, looking northeast, courtesy of Aspen Ridge Homes

On the east side of the six-storey podium of Studio2 we are given a first look at the chunky, striated, precast cladding that will surround the exterior of the podiums.

Cladding on the 6-storey Studio 2 podium, image by Matthew Lavoie

Model of Studio and Studio2 looking northwest, image by Craig White

We will keep en eye on this interesting project as it progresses towards completion in the coming months. Want to learn more about Studio and Studio2? UrbanToronto's dataBase file for the project, linked below, includes renderings of the finished project and lots of information about the buildings' features and many amenities. Want to talk about the development? Join the discussion in one of the associated Forum threads, or add your comment in the space provided on this page.