This morning I was on site at One Delisle with WZMH Architects (AOR) and Studio Gang (design architect). I aim to visit site at least once a week, but lately it's been more than that. What's exciting to see right now is that the geometry of the tower is starting to come through in the slab edges. (The architects also made sure to remind me today that they had to draw each and every one of these.) The above photos were taken from the level 2 retail terrace. We always imagined this space becoming an amazing restaurant overlooking Yonge Street -- but we'll see what happens.

Expect to see a lot more of these fun slab edges over the next few months.

On Saturday, I went on a bike ride all around Toronto. We cut across midtown (checking in on One Delisle), stopped at the Chester Hill Lookout (which if you grew up in the east end is where you probably went as a teenager to make out), shot down the Don Valley, and then turned west along the waterfront. The weather was perfect.

As we were going along the waterfront, we passed the new Aqualuna building that is under construction on Queens Quay East, near Parliament Street. Being the architecture nerd that I am, I immediately noticed that as you pass by -- at the speed of a bike -- the balconies create this really nice cinematic effect.

So I stopped to take these photos (I probably should have taken a video now that I think of it):

I then tweeted a tweet calling it one of the most beautiful buildings going up in Toronto today. Judging from the responses, most people seem to be in agreement, but a few people questioned the practicality of balconies like this. Namely how private and usable they will be. I don't disagree, but I still think it's fine looking building.

What do you think?

Germany has, over the last 2 years, really gotten into balcony solar panels:

The ease of installation and a potent mix of government policies to encourage adoption has made the wee arrays hugely popular. More than 550,000 of them dot cities and towns nationwide, half of which were installed in 2023. During the first half of this year, Germany added 200 megawatts of balcony solar. Regulations limit each system to just 800 watts, enough to power a small fridge or charge a laptop, but the cumulative effect is nudging the country toward its clean energy goals while giving apartment dwellers, who make up more than half of the population, an easy way to save money and address the climate crisis.

Of course, there's only so much that panels like these can produce. By some estimates, a "large well-positioned balcony" might only produce 15% of a home's electricity needs. But hey, that's still something, and it seems like something that Toronto should be looking at.

We also have balconies.