An aging rental complex in Toronto's Moss Park neighbourhood could soon be the anchor tying a striking new multi-tower development in with the existing urban fabric.

A recent proposal from developer Fitzrovia Real Estate seeks to add a pair of new stunners to the existing complex of 1970s Brutalist-style towers.

The plan aims to take a bite out of the rental housing shortage, bringing new 49- and 47-storey rental towers to the site while retaining the existing 23-storey north tower at 201 Sherbourne and 17-storey south tower at 191 Sherbourne.

An absolutely breathtaking design from architects PARTISANS builds on the firm's reputation for the avant-garde, known for setting itself leagues apart from the copy-paste architecture that has been accused of sanitizing Toronto's skyline over the past several years.

The firm keeps its streak of out-of-the-box thinking alive for this pair of towers, planned to be among the tallest from PARTISANS to date at impressive heights of 157 and 151 metres.

Vibrant orange exteriors, playful patterns, and dramatic cantilevers define the aesthetic, juxtaposed against the rigid concrete weight of the current towers.

One of the proposal's standout features is the sky bridge that would link the two towers and provide an elevated amenity level floating atop the existing south tower, almost acting as a giant frame punctuating the current 17-storey building.

This L-shaped bridge will provide residents with 1,540 square metres of outdoor amenity space overlooking the surrounding cityscape. Both ends of the bridge meet at indoor amenity spaces on the towers' 17th floors.

Down at street level, the complex would offer new retail and community space, while the levels above would house over 63,400 square metres of residential space.

All of this new space would provide an additional 863 rental apartments to the already-densely-populated complex. Combined with the newly-renovated suites in the existing 191 and 201 Sherbourne towers, the complex would house a staggering 1,459 total units if approved as proposed.

The current plan follows a previous 2020 application for a lower-intensity infill redevelopment that sought to add 15- and seven-storey buildings to the site.

In the years since this plan was pitched to city planners, significant changes have reshaped the allotment of density in Toronto, most notably, the enaction of Major Transit Station Areas promoting higher densities in areas close to rapid transit stations.

The coming Moss Park station on the Ontario Line will be located just a couple hundred metres south of the proposal site, giving developers much more leeway in upping the scale of the proposal.