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It has been a few months since we last checked in on The Mercer, a 33-storey condominium development by Beaverhall Homes and Graywood Developments, currently rising in the densely populated Entertainment District. When we last visited the site in December, concrete had just started to rise above the five-storey podium, and in the months since, The Mercer has made significant progress, now standing 22 storeys above John Street south of King.
Designed by BBB Architects, The Mercer has drawn much attention since rising above grade last year, and after much anticipation, we got our first look inside the project last week.
Just above the building's lobby on ground level, the Mercer’s indoor amenity space, Club Mercer, can be found on the second floor. The completed amenity floor will offer residents a fitness centre, party room, screening room and a Scandinavian-inspired sauna and spa area with top-of-the-line fitness equipment and a hot tub.
Progress on the indoor amenity spaces is ongoing, with ventilation, electrical, plumbing and drywall currently being installed.
On the sixth floor podium rooftop, residents will have access to a 10,000-square-foot terrace featuring pergolas with private lounges, a games area, kitchen and dining area, reflecting pool, cabana chairs and even a wraparound screen wall for outdoor movie viewing. This outdoor amenity space is currently still in a raw state, awaiting finishes and fixtures, though the sheer size of the space combined with the impressive views of the surrounding area show promise for a great outdoor gathering place.
Further up the tower, the condominium suites are beginning to take shape. The Mercer will contain studios, one-bedroom, one-bedroom+den, two-bedroom and three-bedroom designs ranging from 363 to 1,133 square feet in size.
Even further up the tower, spaces destined to become condominium units are still in a very raw state, essentially no more than the building's concrete skeleton. In the image below, we can see plumbing awaiting installation on the building's 18th floor.
Work is currently underway on the 22nd floor of the tower, with another 11 storeys of residential plus one mechanical level left to build before the tower tops off. Up top, crews work to construct the next floorplate of the tower, which has been rising quickly thanks to its repetitive layout.
Though there will still be several higher floors to push sightlines even further, the views from these mid- to upper-level floors currently give us an impressive approximation of what to expect for the building's highest floors. Looking to the east, the Entertainment District continues to blur its eastern boundary with the Financial District, thanks to high-rise additions like Theatre Park, pictured below.
Looking in every other direction yields impressive views over various construction projects currently reshaping the cityscape. As the building grows taller, these views will broaden, allowing residents of upper floors commanding views stretching in all directions.
As work progresses on the tower, so too does the cladding installation process. Precast cladding, soon to be painted a brick-red hue, frames the dark glass and spandrel panels which cover much of the podium.
Cladding is also now being applied to the tower portion above, and it won't be too much longer before we see the addition of balcony glazing.
Additional information including building facts and renderings can be found in our dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the conversation? Head over to the associated Forum threads, or join in the discussion by leaving a comment in the section provided at the bottom of this page.
| Related Companies: | Milborne Group, RJC Engineers, STUDIO tla |
