The project site, in the core of the old City, is flanked on the north by the historic St. Lawrence Market and on the south by the GO rail transit corridor and Lake Ontario. Market Wharf responds to City and Provincial policies for intensifying urban areas that are rich in physical and social infrastructure, creatively interweaving residential and commercial development, reclaiming another waterfront brownfields site, and creating a western anchor for Crombie Park, the public green space at the heart of the St. Lawrence community.

The expressive form of Market Wharf responds to the requirement for iconic, yet contextual, architecture, with a masonry-clad podium that echoes the massing and materiality of the Market, surmounted by a curvilinear amenity pod, a bar of two-storey townhouses, and a 34-storey residential tower. The simplicity of the tower form is mitigated by undulating balcony railings that evoke the rippling surface of the Lake.