The emergence of mixed-use high-rise development along one of Toronto’s few grid-breaking arterials, Weston Road, has quietly created the conditions for a new high street with direct connections to a reliable transit network. As more proposals pop up, hoping to leverage the improved rail infrastructure in the Weston Village Neighbourhood, developers Castlepoint Numa are leading the charge.

Their new high-rise project, 1830 Weston, will be the developers' third tower with adjacency to Weston UP Express Station, and is the next step in advancing their commitment to the revitalization of Weston Village. With an eye-catching design from Studio JCI standing 45 storeys, the team of Castlepoint Numa, KIN Capital Partners, and Forthlane Partners, are working quickly to bring the tower, and its 562 new units, to market.

Proposed design from Studio JCI for 45-storey development, 1830 Weston, image courtesy of Castlepoint Numa

“Weston Village is a unique location in this City, offering the natural amenity of the Humber River ravine at your back door and a 15 minute train ride to Union Station at the front,” says Jeff Brenner, Partner at Castlepoint Numa. “We are thrilled to be working with Studio JCI to deliver an exceptional design and further build on the exciting story of urban renewal for this neighbourhood.”

Following closely on their well received proposal for the 2-tower Weston Park development — which Castlepoint Numa resubmitted to the City in late December at an increased height — 1830 Weston is the next step forward as the company works towards realizing their long-term vision for a new high-density, transit-oriented community. 

Proposed design for the 2-tower Weston park development, image courtesy of Castlepoint Numa

The 1830 Weston project contemplates the redevelopment of a row of six existing buildings fronting the west side of Weston Road. Rising two storeys, and each offering a grade level retail unit as well as a residential unit above, the proponents have evaluated the existing buildings as an under-utilized programming of the site based on the planning policies for the area. 

The site is located within a major transit station area (MTSA), with Weston Station offering both GO Transit service and the UP Express, while the network of TTC surface transit offers connections to Line 1 and 2 subways. Beyond that, the site is within a City of Toronto designated Strategic Growth Area, which adds another layer to the case for intensification at the high-rise scale. 

Looking southwest towards the development site and surrounding area, image from Apple Maps

Studio JCI's design for the tower begins with an effort to formally address the two primary forces that have shaped the built form of the area: the rail infrastructure, and the Humber River, flowing through the ravine just to the west of the site.

According to Castlepoint Numa, the design that emerged was "inspired by the mythological Roman deity, Janus, the god of duality, depicted for centuries as having two faces." With two distinct elevations, the tower is visually defined by its two faces, addressing the ravine to the west with a horizontal motif created by continuous balconies, while addressing the urban realm to the east with a vertical fin pattern. 

Elevation drawings demonstrate the distinct 2-face exterior expression of the tower, image courtesy of Castlepoint Numa

The massing of the 45-storey building is broken up into three different volumes, scaled in a way that strives to break up the rigidity of the surrounding built form. First, the podium rises six storeys, meeting the street at a pedestrian scale while also providing the space that makes the building useful to the wider community, with a 4,542ft² retail unit facing the sidewalk and its foot traffic. This ground level enjoys a lofty ceiling height of 20 feet. 

Close up of the 6-storey podium with grade level retail, image courtesy of Castlepoint Numa

Moving upward, the second volume is defined as the lower tower, a perfectly square mass occupying floors 7 to 17, which steps back from the podium on three sides. The massing of the lower tower is scaled to respond to the form of the neighbouring slab-style building while maintaining a more contemporary exterior expression. 

Finally, the upper tower delivers levels 18 to 45 with a slender floor-plate that adheres to the city’s guidelines for high-rise design. As the surrounding context continues on its trend towards intensification, the three volume design of the tower will allow 1830 Weston to interact with and relate to the other planned high-rise buildings coming to the area in the future.

Looking south at the complete 3-section massing of the tower, image courtesy of Castlepoint Numa

With a total of 562 units tabled for the development and a range of functional amenities of 24,218ft² in total area, 1830 Weston is the next stage of Castlepoint Numa’s mission to contribute to the story of Weston Village. The story doesn’t end here, however, as another project launch from Castlepoint Numa is expected to arrive next month.

UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.

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Related Companies:  Arcadis, Castlepoint Numa, Cohen & Master Tree and Shrub Services Ltd, Entuitive, Giannone Petricone Associates, Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, HGC Engineering Inc, Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, Mulvey & Banani, NAK Design Strategies, SKYGRiD, SvN, Urban Strategies Inc., VIP Condos Toronto