What may prove to be one of Toronto's most iconic new skyscrapers is gearing up to break into the midtown skyline.

The hotly-anticipated One Delisle project near St. Clair subway station has caught the attention of architecture publications around the globe thanks to a standout honeycomb-shaped design from starchitect Jeanne Gang of the acclaimed Chicago-based firm Studio Gang.

And it's about to make the jump from rendering to reality.

Work on the 44-storey condominium tower is well underway, and pivotal milestones are now setting the stage for the project's rise above the corner of Yonge and Delisle.

The building will offer impressive skyline views from balconies and terraces formed by the honeycomb design. Rendering by Studio Gang.

Brandon Donnelly, Managing Director of Development at Slate Asset Management — the company developing the new landmark — shared details of the project's construction progress in a blog post this week, including a major milestone that was recently surpassed on the site.

Donnelly's blog states that "this past week we poured the first bit of concrete in the giant raft slab foundation (or mat foundation) that sits, or will sit, at the bottom of One Delisle."

This major construction milestone marks the first significant upward progress at the project site, which was cleared of buildings in early 2022 and has since completed a four-level-deep excavation.

The foundation now being poured will serve as a base for the tower to rest on, setting a somewhat literal table for the upward construction to follow.

Donnelly explains in his post that, at the deepest point below the tower's core, the raft slab will stand over four metres thick, "meaning the area occupied by the gentlemen in the above photo will be fully covered in concrete when it's complete."

Forming of the tower's raft slab foundation. Photo via Brandon Donnelly.

He notes that a photo of the massive undertaking "doesn't even do it justice," and that "you need to be on-site and down in the bottom of the hole to really feel it. There's a lot of bar, and it's going to be very deep."

For now, it may look like little more than a rebar-filled pit, but this milestone represents the first few feet of upward growth toward what will eventually be a 44-storey-tall titan.

Studio Gang describes the tower's ambitious design as featuring "a series of eight-storey, hooded modules, which nest together as they spiral up the building."

The project eschews the cookie-cutter aesthetic prevalent in Toronto condo design both inside and out, with the design team boasting that the modules' "angled, alternating geometry allows for variously sized and shaped floor plates, resulting in unique conditions within the living spaces."

Eight-storey modules sprouting from a cylindrical core structure will give the tower an appearance unlike any other in Toronto. Rendering by Studio Gang.

It may be several more months before the first signs of these signature modules appear above area rooftops.

A four-level underground garage and a two-storey podium will rise before the tower begins to make its mark. Rendering by Studio Gang.

Once the foundation is in place, crews must form the building's four-level underground parking garage and two-storey base before the tower floor geometry makes its presence known above.