Large scale residential developments are popping up all over the downtown core these days, but this wasn't always the case. Construction work on the first major high-rise condominium to ever see construction in Toronto's Financial District - One King West - was already underway on August 25th of 2002, with the gutting of the architects Darling and Pearson's 1914 Dominion Bank Building at Yonge and King.

One King West Hotel & Residence under construction, August 25th 2002, image by Edward Skira

Almost 12 years later, the completed hotel/condominium tower stretches 51 storeys into the Toronto skyline, with one of the thinnest floorplates of any high-rise in the city. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the original 1914 building, the preserved facade is now undergoing a full-scale revitalization.

One King West Hotel & Residence seeing restoration work, April 17th 2014, image by Jack Landau

We will return next week with another look at the changing face of Toronto!