The last of four towers that helped transform Mississauga's city centre got one of its finishing touches this month.
Onyx, the fourth tower by
Davies Smith Developments, across from Square One, got its rooftop terrace. Though it's been accepting occupants since last summer, the 36-storey, 353-unit building at 223 Webb Drive has only now reached is registration phase.
"When we started the ball rolling on this whole community, we put a lot of thought into the kind of style for the first building coming in there," says developer Ian Smith, "because that was very early in what has now become a well developed residential core in the city. We saw it not as a suburban site, but as Mississauga city centre, which could be pretty urban.
"So we went with a pretty sleek glass tower design, which hadn't been done there before. Before, it was very traditional suburban condo designs, more individual, punch windows, facades with individual windows breaking up the exterior. At that time, nothing in Mississauga city centre had lofts, two-storey units, and they sold incredibly fast."
The first designs for the four-tower project, which also includes CityGate I and II, and Solstice, were done in 2002, just after the zoning for the area had been changed to allow the increased density, according to Smith.
The towers' architect was Roland Rom Colthoff, current principal at Raw Design, who was a principal of Quadrangle Architects while designing the first three towers; the credit for Onyx is split between the two firms.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Ian Smith
Do you know of a new building going up, a business expanding or being renovated, a park in the works or even a new house being built in the neighbourhood? Please send your development news tips to [email protected].CORRECTION: Raw Design was incorrectly credited as the architecture firm behind the four towers in the original version of this story. Roland Rom Colthoff was the principal in charge of these designs while at Quadrangle.