The Financial District is seeing a profound transformation thanks to a continuing trend of large scale commercial developments. The most recent project to get underway is Oxford Properties' EY Tower at 100 Adelaide West, the third phase of the 2.4 million square foot Richmond-Adelaide Centre complex. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, WZMH Architects, Stephenson Engineering and heritage consultant ERA Architects, the 900,000 square-foot office building will soon rise from the site of the recently-demolished Concourse Building, a 16-storey Art Deco structure which will have its south and east walls reincorporated into the new development.

EY Tower construction site viewed from the east, image by Jack Landau

It has been a few months since we saw the demolition of the Concourse Building and the dismantling of its facades, and in the time since, excavation for the future 40-storey office building (the EY Tower is named for EY Canada, called Ernst & Young Canada until recently) has made significant progress, with work now four storeys below grade.

Excavation for Oxford's EY Tower, image by Jack Landau

Before work on this project began, the north half of the site was occupied by a mostly above-ground public parking garage which also provided through-access to the loading docks under 120 Adelaide Street West, an earlier phase of the Richmond Adelaide Centre. With the garage and its loading dock access now gone to make way for the new tower, a temporary bridge has been installed across the excavation pit to connect the loading docks to Sheppard Street.

Temporary bridge connecting to existing Richmond-Adelaide complex, image by Jack Landau

Temporary bridge connecting to existing Richmond-Adelaide complex, image by Jack Landau

EY Tower construction site viewed from the northeast, image by Jack Landau

Along with the new foundation and garage for the EY Tower, a new permanent ramp to the loading docks will go in, allowing the temporary bridge to come out. Once it is out of the way, we can expect to see the tower and podium begin to rise. When the building is ready for its cladding, the historic Concourse Building's 16-storey façade will be reinstalled in a 13-storey configuration.

EY Tower construction site viewed from the southeast, image by Jack Landau

The EY Tower at Richmond Adelaide Centre, image courtesy of Oxford Properties

Additional information and renderings can be found in our dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or voice your opinion in the comments section provided at the bottom of this page.