Studio Gang has announced its first Canadian project—a new block plan and mixed-used tower for Toronto-based real estate investment platform Slate Asset Management.

The design of One Delisle aligns with the city grid at its rectilinear base before emerging as a sixteen-sided tower, allowing for more sunlight at the street level. The building comprises several eight-story sections that nest together as they ascend along the facade. The exterior’s angled and alternating geometry, in turn, creates variation of the tower’s residential floor plans. Terraces atop the multilevel segments and protected balconies provide additional space for outdoor living. 

“The geometry of the facade, and the self-shading it provides, allows each living space to stay cool in summer, while also optimizing winter light,” says the firm’s founder Jeanne Gang. “This gentle pitch frames indoor-outdoor connections on the balconies and terraces that spiral up the building in an organization inspired by organic growth and form.”

Since 2013, Slate has been acquiring property in midtown Toronto, including the important transit node where the One Delisle tower will be located. The project was born out of Slate’s long-term vision to re-establish Yonge and St. Clair as a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood with retail and residential spaces.

"The proposed building at One Delisle is only one component of this project,” says Brandon Donnelly, Vice President of Development at Slate Asset Management. “Because of our holdings in the area, we’re in a unique position to take a holistic city building approach.”

Other Studio Gang projects that have similarly enhanced public space include a series of dome-shaped structures at the University of Chicago and Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. The firm also created an exhibit for the U.S. pavilion at 2018 Venice Biennale showcasing the intersection of public space and empowerment.

After showing Studio Gang’s design of One Delisle to the public at a community meeting, Slate officially submitted it to Toronto’s City Planning Division for review last Friday.