A couple of weeks ago, we examined the plans for the Sapphire Tower, which was planned for Toronto, but was never constructed. This spurred an interest in other high-rise towers that would have significantly altered Toronto’s skyline, if only they had made it past the planning phase.
As you probably know, there is usually a legitimate reason for the denial of a proposal, and sometimes we look back and are thankful that a certain building never had the chance to punctuate our illustrious skyline. The nonexistent building we present to you this week is known as the John Maryon Tower.
Plans for the soaring development were officially unveiled just over 40 years ago on Oct. 20, 1971. The proposal called for an outrageous 140-storey, 2.85-million-square-foot office building, which would rise in the College Park area, between Yonge and Bay, just north of Hayter Street. Measuring 1,650 feet to the roof, and 2,250 feet including the antenna, it would have, if standing today, looked down approximately 435 feet at the CN Tower.
John Maryon of John Maryon & Partners Ltd., had a dream of constructing the tallest building in the world, but most of all, he wanted to prove that this height was possible. Being new to the development game at the time of the proposal and not having any projects under their belt as a company, Maryon probably wanted to start out with a bang, and created a concept for a building that was possibly too ambitious for its time. The tallest building in the world in the early 1970s, the first World Trade Center, was under construction when Maryon publicized his proposal, and the World Trade Center would stand only 1,368 feet, which was considered a great accomplishment.
Maryon wanted to exceed this height by more than 880 feet. His design called for a concrete, central core which would provide support to the triangular skeleton of the tower; the triangular shape was designed to reduce wind resistance. Unfortunately, Maryon never received the opportunity to prove that this height was attainable with his design and the era’s technology. If the John Maryon Tower had been erected, it would have stood as the world’s tallest building up until 2008, when Dubai’s Burj Khalifa was completed. What if the tower did exist?
Would it have changed the perception of the city? If the John Maryon Tower was standing in the College Park area right now, it would have been the world’s tallest building for more than 30 years. It could have been an international landmark, pulled in tourists from all over the globe, pushed the economy off the charts, and made Toronto more famous than it already is. But it is also entirely possible and more likely that it would have made Toronto infamous for having one of the most unfortunate intrusions on a skyline ever.
It truly is an uninspiring design — it kind of resembles an unfavourable version of the CN Tower, wrapped in a triangular prism. The extreme height of the building would only cast unsightly shadows and plague the city with its dark and daunting stature as it loomed over the streets. Besides being unattractive, another one of the reasons that the tower was never constructed was because of the questionable site.
At the time, Eaton’s owned the parking lot on which the tower was proposed and the Toronto Daily Star stated that, “Eaton’s has not approved a 140-storey tower.” An Eaton’s spokesperson declared that they had not discussed any kind of land transaction with Maryon, or anyone else for that matter. The project seemed to be doomed from the day of its unveiling; people did not believe that it was possible to build that high into the sky, the proposed site apparently wasn’t even for sale, and the design was lacking any kind of eye-appeal.
This failure did not sway John Maryon from continuing to build in Toronto. By 1990, he completed five projects before the company was liquidated; in chronological order, they succeeded in the construction of an office building at 77 Grenville St., The MacPhail; a residential development on Church; another residential building at 720 Spadina Ave.; Fellowship Towers on Yonge, and the Quality Hotel on Bloor.
What are your thoughts on the design of the John Maryon Tower? Would you want this tower gracing our skyline today? Please comment below.
Images come courtesy the Skyscraper Forum and Matthew Borrett
