Palace Place Condominium

Ever wondered how Palace Place Condominium, a marvel of engineering in Toronto's waterfront, overcame its challenging location and access to bedrock? Despite initial doubts, the building stands strong today thanks to an innovative caisson foundation that drilled 145 tower pillars into solid shale bedrock, some as deep as 120 feet underground! Check out the fascinating story behind Palace Place.

After hearing about the sinking Millennium tower in San Francisco (see YouTube video in comments), I was curious about something I heard about Palace Place that was initially believed to not be a viable build because of its location and access to bedrock. So, I did a little research, and this is what I found.

The history of Palace Place (1 Palace Pier Court, Toronto) is quite a feat of engineering. While there were significant challenges during the planning and excavation phases, the building is now considered one of the most structurally sound in the city due to the extreme measures taken to secure it.

In the late 1980s, before construction began, there were concerns about the stability of the site because it sits in a "marine environment" near the mouth of the Humber River. Geotechnical experts (led by William Trow) found that the bedrock elevation was highly unpredictable. In the short distance between the older Palace Pier and the new Palace Place site, the bedrock dropped by as much as 82 feet.

The Solution: Instead of using standard footings, the developer (Bramalea Limited) opted for an advanced caisson foundation. To reach stability, 145 tower caissons were drilled through soft silt and mud into the solid shale bedrock. Some of these caissons go as deep as 120 feet (roughly 36 meters) underground.

Is it Stable Now? Yes. In fact, the foundation of Palace Place is often cited by engineers as a gold standard for high-rise construction in Toronto.

Palace Place loves being part of the Humber Bay Shores community. Check out these amazing photos about the wildlife and scenery from our local, talented photographers from the link below. If you enjoy the content of this page, please consider leaving a recommendation on our page. It helps other know about our beautiful Humber Bay Shores community.

Featured Photos of Humber Bay Shores Scenery & Wildlife · Aug 13, 2017 – Aug 11, 2025 📸 Shared album · Tap to view!

You can't get much closer to the water than this.