Moshe Safdie, the Montreal-trained architect whose first waterfront project, Habitat at Expo 67, made him world-famous is designing a mixed-use complex for a site on Queens Quay, just east of Sherbourne Street.

Safdie’s plan calls for a 36-storey condo tower a top a 10-floor podium, mostly glass, that would face Lake Ontario. The complex will also form the eastern edge of Sherbourne Park, now under construction.

Because it sits on the north side of Queens Quay, the new development will have no direct water access. But as Safdie notes, above the 10th floor, residents will have views of the lake.

Architecturally, the most striking feature is a series of “terraces” that cascade diagonally down the west and east facades nicknamed “gardens in the sky. These terraces are made of concrete; the recessed parts in between, of glass. Undoubtedly, this will make the building a landmark on the Toronto skyline.

The $200 million building developed by Great Gulf will include condos, offices and retail outlets, as well as a daycare centre. At least 5 per cent of the condos are to be three-bedroom units.

Safdie, who lives in Boston and teaches at Harvard, has worked around the world. His credits include the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Vancouver Library, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and Terminal One at Pearson Airport. This is his first job in downtown Toronto.