Look, sometimes you just have to put your faith in engineers, which is exactly what residents of a newly proposed condo tower will be telling themselves if the creative Toronto development proposal is indeed constructed.

A fresh application filed with the City seeks to allow a colossal 43-storey addition atop an existing nine-storey office building at 111 Peter Street for a combined 52-storey tower.

Yes, you read that right. And, for that likely follow-up question, yes, they've thought this through.

Capital Developments and Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services have signed on WZMH Architects for the bold addition that would transform the current office building near King and Spadina into the base of a new residential tower.

Built in 1971, back when the Entertainment District was predominantly populated by warehouse structures, the building at 111 Peter — home to an Independent City Market grocery store — has since been engulfed in a sea of condominium towers that have rendered it akin to a stump among tall trees.

The plan calls for a total of 852 residential units, including 828 condominium suites and 24 affordable rental units. At street level, over 1,480 square metres of retail space would anchor the repurposed podium levels to the ground realm.

The project team is banking on the forthcoming Ontario Line's Queen-Spadina Station for the area to do the heavy lifting in terms of residents' commuting needs. A minimal parking component of just 31 spaces for residents and visitors is planned in a single underground level, while almost 950 bicycle parking spaces would be included.

Now, the thing most of you are still probably wondering is, "How will this work?"

One would be excused for questioning how a tower of such a size could even be safely built atop a building just a fraction of its height. And while the current building can in no way support such an addition as-is, a structural reinforcement of the existing office block will beef up its bones sufficiently to support the immense load planned above.

Carlo Timpano, president of Capital Developments, explains to blogTO that as the current building was originally constructed as a data centre, "the core structure is atypically robust."

Though robust, the building will still require some work to support new levels, with Timpano noting that "existing columns will be reinforced, and an additional exterior structure, concealed from view, will be added to manage lateral forces and torsion."

"There will also be some additional transfers internally to reduce the current number of columns in the retail and improve leasability."

There are, of course, some minor drawbacks to reuse projects such as these, and Timpano acknowledges that "retrofitting can sometimes lead to inefficient floorplates due to depth constraints."

But, he explains that "we are strategically utilizing the interior space to accommodate infrastructure typically placed below grade — this includes features such as lockers and cycle parking."

Timpano adds that, despite these challenges, "the generous floor-to-floor height creates opportunities for unique amenities, such as ball courts."

He also stresses the "sustainability story" behind the proposal.

"Retaining the majority of the existing structure significantly reduces the embodied carbon associated with new concrete, minimizing material waste," says Timpano. "As the saying goes, 'the greenest building is the one that's already built.'"

So, could projects like this and similar major additions planned atop a growing number of other buildings in the city be Toronto's silver bullet to curb the housing crisis?

It might not be a practical solution in most cases, according to Timpano.

"Not every building is well-suited for retrofit; in fact, the vast majority are not for a litany of reasons. This one happens to work well. It's important to note that we are early in the process, and we are still working with the City, our designers and the local constituents to advance the project."