Category Archives: Architecture & Construction

U/G parking floors filling in at Post House Condos

Post House Condos

A red construction crane rises behind hoarding along the west (George Street) flank of the Post House Condos site

 

Filling in: The last time I passed by the Post House Condos site in August, crews were just installing the red construction crane that is helping to build the 21-storey structure.  I got another brief glimpse of the site this afternoon, where construction of four underground parking floors is progressing quickly. Two of the floors appear to have been built, with just two more to go before the construction reaches street level.

Located on the east side of George between Richmond and Adelaide Streets, Post House Condos is just steps from the St James Campus buildings of George Brown College, one block from St James Park, and a short walk from the interior design and furniture shopping strip along King Street East. The world-famous St Lawrence Market is only two blocks to the south, while the historic Distillery District is just a 10-minute stroll to the southeast.

 

 

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300 Front Street West condo construction passes 45 storeys on way to 49th-floor topping-off

300 Front Street West

September 18 2008: The northwest corner of Front and John Streets used to be a parking lot just steps away from the CBC Canadian Broadcasting Centre at 250 Front Street West (right), the Metro Hall Civic Centre at 55 John Street (right rear), and the Rosemont Residences at 50 John Street (center rear) …

 

 

300 Front Street West

… as seen in this view from the CN Tower on September 22 2008

 

 300 Front Street West

But during 2010 and early 2011 Tridel excavated the site …

 

 

300 Front Street West

… and began building the foundation and underground levels …

 

 

300 Front West

… for its 300 Front Street West condo complex, depicted in this artistic night view rendering by Rudy Wallman of Toronto’s Wallman Architects.

 

 

 

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Photo update: a peek at below-ground building progress at the One Bloor condo tower site

One Bloor Condos

February 17 2013: Construction of the bottom underground level of the One Bloor condo tower has made considerable progress … 

 

1 Bloor condo

 … since I last photographed the site, back on December 5 2012

 

 One Bloor Condos

February 17 2013: A peek between the construction cranes at the northwest corner of the site

 

One Bloor Condos

February 17 2013: Walls and support columns are gradually taking shape on the north side of the site at the base of one of the construction cranes

 

 

$1.95 million penthouse still up for grabs as construction winds down at Charlie Condos

Charlie Condos

January 10 2013: Charlie Condos (second tower from left) stands proudly on the Entertainment District skyline. Its nearby highrise condo neighbours include M5V Condos (with the bold red mechanical room box on its west side), Cinema Tower (with the construction crane) and Festival Tower (right).

 

Charlie Condos

February 9 201: Looking up at the 36-storey Charlie tower from King Street

 

 

Final few with a superb view: Looking for a brand-new condo with plenty of space and spectacular views — plus an immediate closing? If you’ve got $1 million or more to spend, a spacious upper-level suite at Charlie Condos could be yours today.

Four years ago, a parking lot occupied the northwest corner of King & Charlotte Streets in the Entertainment District. Today, Charlie towers 36 storeys on the site, with owners of its 314 suites gradually taking occupancy of their units as construction draws to a close.

But anyone who missed out on purchasing a suite either before or during construction still has an “exceptional opportunity” to buy a signature suite on one of Charlie’s top floors.

 

 

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Fashion House Condos’ stacked glass box design taking shape as construction climbs to 10th floor

Fashion House Condos

November 23 2010: Hoarding surrounds the historic Toronto Silver Plate Building at 570 King Street West before excavation commenced behind it for the new Fashion House Condos development. The city-designated heritage building will be restored and incorporated into the new condo complex for commercial uses.

 

 

Fashion House Condos

January 10 2013: The L-shaped King Building of the Fashion House condo complex climbs above the north and east sides of the Toronto Silver Plate Building as construction reaches the 10th floor, with 2 floors still to be built

 

 

Fashion House Condos

November 23 2010: A view of the Fashion House condo site from King Street shortly before foundation drilling and shoring work began.

 

 

Fashion House Condos

February 6 2013: The concrete frame for the new building has reached 10 storeys, while window and cladding installation has begun on three floors

 

Designer digs: With construction of Fashion House Condos now up to 10 floors and just a few weeks away from topping off at 12, the building’s stacked platform design is becoming more apparent to passersby on King Street West. Installation of floor-to-ceiling windows on three floors, so far, also indicates that the condo interiors will be cheery, bright spaces regardless of whether the sky is cloudy or clear — unless residents choose  to keep the building’s signature lipstick-red curtains closed.

The 334-unit complex is a project of Freed Developments, which had asked Toronto’s Core Architects Inc. to design a contemporary building that would celebrate King Street’s long history as a fashion district. (The area formerly was known as Toronto’s Garment District.)

 

 

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Two floors to go for boutique Downtown Condos under construction at Wellington & Portland

Downtown Condo

February 6 2013: Construction progress on the Downtown condo midrise, viewed from the south at the intersection of Wellington Street West and Portland Street.

 

9  up, 2 to go: One year ago, excavation work was just in its early stages at the 508-516 Wellington Street West site of the boutique Downtown condo building. As of this week, concrete has been poured for 9 floors of the 11-storey midrise structure.

A project of Parallax Investment Corportion, the 89-unit condominium building was designed by Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co. Architects Inc. It’s the third new midrise condo building to be constructed on Wellington West, between Spadina Avenue and Portland Street, just in the past two years. (The other two, now occupied, are 400 Wellington and Five Hundred Wellington West.) But Downtown is the first building — both in Toronto, and possibly the entire world — to feature the innovative Flexnatür raised-floor building design that Sweeny Sterling developed.

 

 

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Demolition underway at Bloor Street site for 32-storey Exhibit Residences stacked cube tower

Exhibit Residences

February 3 2013: You can’t see it from the street, but demolition is well under way inside the buildings behind the fences and hoarding at 192, 194 and 200 Bloor Street West, where developer Bazis Inc. will build its distinctive “twisting cube” Exhibit Residences condo tower 

 

Exhibit Residences condo tower

This artistic rendering depicts how Exhibit will appear when viewed from Philosopher’s Walk on the south side of Bloor Street. The  32-storey condo tower was designed by Rosario Varacalli of Toronto’s r. Varacalli Architect Inc.

 

Restaurant razing: Three Bloor Street West buildings that once housed busy budget-friendly restaurants, including a controversial McDonald’s outlet, are being razed to clear the site for construction of the Exhibit Residences condo tower, which will cut a distinctive figure on the Yorkville skyline with its striking stacked cube design.

Four popular restaurants once occupied the low-rise buildings: Pho Hung and China Garden at 200 Bloor West, a Gabby’s Bar & Grill at 194 Bloor West, and an open-all-night McDonald’s at 192A Bloor West. Gabby’s has since relocated two doors down the street to 192 Bloor West (which originally was expected to be part of the condo redevelopment property, but was dropped from the site plan during revisions to the project proposal). Pho Hung closed last June, but its sister Vietnamese restaurants remain open in Mississauga and on Spadina Avenue in Toronto’s Chinatown.  As reported in the Toronto Star, the McDonald’s closed nearly a month ago — on January 6 — after operating on the site for 41 years. But it will eventually return to occupy new street-level premises in the forthcoming condo tower.

 

 Exhibit Residences condo tower location

February 12 2011: The McDonald’s outlet operated for 41 years at 192A Bloor West. The City-owned property had been leased to McDonald’s for only $15,5000 in annual rent. The 192 Bloor West building with the Gabby’s Bar & Grill is not part of the Exhibit Residences condo property, and will remain as is, but the 3-storey structure with the Stretch Fitness centre sign at 194 Bloor West is part of the redevelopment site and is being demolished along with the McDonald’s building.

 

 

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Exterior work nearly complete at 77 Charles

77 Charles West

January 26 2013: A view of the 77 Charles West luxury condo building from one block to the north at the intersection of Sultan and St Thomas Streets. Work on the building’s green glass exterior is nearly complete and, inside, model suites are available for viewing.

 

Nearly finished: When I last reported on the 77 Charles West condo project in an August 13 2011 post, windows and cladding were just being installed on the midrise building’s ground floor.  Now, the midrise condominium is almost ready for occupancy.

As of this month, the building is completely glassed in, finishing touches to the exterior are nearly complete (apart from one northwest-facing balcony which appears to be getting a major alteration, and parts of the building frontage along Charles Street which still await landscaping), work on the condo suite interiors is well underway, and developer Aspen Ridge Homes has opened a model suite for exclusive private viewings. Residences are still available for purchase, at prices starting from $2.1 million.

 

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U Condos construction reaches street level

UCondos

This was how the U Condos construction site looked on January 21 of last year.  As the yellow foundation drilling machine continued its work …

 

U Condos

… an enormous mound of soil (upper right) still had to be excavated from the site …

 

U Condos

… but one year later (January 26 2013, to be exact), underground parking levels have filled in the giant L-shaped excavation, and construction of the 2 condo towers and 19 town homes has reached ground level. Building forms for support columns for the ground level of the West Tower (left) already rise above grade.

 

 

Above is a link to a Flickr album containing three dozen photos of U Condos construction since the beginning of December. Click the image once to view a small-format slideshow, or click twice to access the album and view full-size photos instead.

 

Goldring Student Centre enhances streetscape on U of T’s Victoria University campus

Golding Student Centre

August 14 2011: Excavation was still in early stages when I shot this photo just two and a half months after the official groundbreaking for the Goldring Student Centre at Victoria University on the University of Toronto campus …

 

Goldring Student Centre

… today, 1.5 years later, construction crews have nearly finished applying stone cladding to the exterior of the 3-storey structure on Charles Street West

 

Goldring Student Centre

Architectural illustrations on a billboard at the construction site show how the new Goldring Student Centre and its landscaped quad will look when complete. The building was designed by Toronto’s Moriyama & Teshima Architects. 

 

Looking good: A new student social centre and meeting facility is shaping into a handsome addition to the Charles Street landscape on the Victoria University campus at U of T.

As installation of exterior stone cladding nears completion at the Goldring Student Centre, the 3-storey building already looks completely at home in its surroundings, fitting in well with the McKinsey and Company building next door and the Isabel Bader Theatre across the street — both of which also boast attractive stone finishes. I love the look of both those buildings, and think the new Goldring Student Centre nicely complements its neighbours and enhances the streetscape along Charles West.

 

 

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ETFO office construction nears completion

ETFO office building

January 16 2013: Construction of the new ETFO office building at Huntley & Isabella Streets is in the final stages with completion anticipated for this coming March

 

ETFO office building

January 16 2013: A view of the 4-storey building from the east, along Isabella Street

 

End in sight: While the bitter contract dispute between the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the provincial government continues to drag on with seemingly no progress or end in sight, the same can’t be said about construction of the new ETFO’s new headquarters at Huntley & Isabella Streets. Building contractors have been making steady progress there, and the new offices are on target for completion this coming March, less than two years after construction commenced.

The ETFO is the largest teachers’ federation in Canada, representing more than 76,000 elementary school teachers and educational professionals across the province.  The organization has been operating from premises in an office building at 480 University Avenue near Dundas Street for years, but had outgrown those premises. ETFO acquired a site at the southeast corner of Huntley and Isabella Streets, in the 180-year-old Upper Jarvis neighbourhood, and hired Toronto’s Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB Architects) to design environmentally-senstive new headquarters that would fit nicely into the predominantly residential area.

 

 

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RCMI Residences rising higher

RCMI Residences

January 10 2013: Looking up from the University Avenue median at construction progress on the RCMI Residences tower at 426 University Avenue

 

Approaching 30: Won’t be much longer before construction of the RCMI Residences condo tower starts to soar above Zurich — the Zurich Insurance Canadian headquarters at 400 University Avenue, that is.

When I passed by the RCMI Residences building site this afternoon, workers told me that tower construction is now up to the 29th floor, on its way to 44.  (I am certain they were mistaken about the final floor count; the project was approved on October 26 2009 by Toronto City Council on the basis of a September 18 2009 city planning report for a proposed 42-storey mixed-use building.)

 

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Milan Condominium rising higher in Yorkville

Milan Condos

December 30 2012: Church Street view of construction progress on The Milan Condominium, which has climbed more than 15 floors near the northeast corner of the Church Street-Yonge Street-Davenport Road intersection. Only 8 months ago …

 

Milan Condos

… construction was just beginning to approach ground level at the east end of the project site, formerly occupied by a parking lot for the Canadian Tire flagship store on Yonge Street (white building at rear left)

 

Milan Condos

May 6 2012: Looking toward the Church-Yonge-Davenport intersection of Yorkville from the east end of The Milan Condominium construction site

 

Steady climb: The Milan Condominium continues to make its mark in Yorkville. As the tower steadily climbs taller on a former parking lot site near the northeast corner of Yonge and Church Streets, it is completely changing the look and feel of the area in the process.

Construction was still below grade last May, but during the summer the building began making its presence felt as The Milan’s podium reached three levels on its way to eight.  The tower has since passed 15 floors, and now commands attention from the east, north and west. I have crossed the Church-Yonge-Davenport intersection several times in the past two weeks, and on each occasion have overheard other pedestrians making positive comments about how different the corner looks with The Milan on the rise. (I haven’t heard any negative feedback about the building, but have heard passersby remark that it’s a huge improvement over the unsightly parking facility that previously occupied the site.)

 

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Pit Stops: Photo roundup of below-ground and at-grade construction activity at 21 downtown condo, office & university building sites

Picasso on Richmond condos

As 2012 drew to a close, some noteworthy downtown building projects had reached different stages of at- and below-grade construction progress. At some sites, like this one for the Picasso on Richmond condo tower, preliminary foundation drilling work was in full swing …

 

Studio on Richmond condos

… while at others, like this one for the Studio on Richmond and Studio2 condo towers just two blocks east of Picasso, site excavation was ongoing.

 

The Yorkville condos

Over the same period of time, underground parking levels were taking shape at some building sites, like this one for The Yorkville condo project on Davenport Road …

 

X2 Condos

… while over on Charles Street East, construction had reached a milestone mark at X2 Condos, where building had started on the ground level of the tower

 

Fall photos: Until condo and office tower construction starts to climb above street level, it can be difficult to track how quickly work is progressing on the dozens of new buildings going up in Toronto’s downtown core. Ground-level views of building sites are often obscured by hoarding and security fences, plus concrete delivery trucks, dump trucks and other construction vehicles maneuvering into and out of staging areas adjacent to construction zones. I find it’s a big challenge to monitor ongoing progress at places where underground levels are taking shape, let alone keep an eye on sites where shovels are just breaking ground or preliminary work is being undertaken to prepare for full-scale construction. The vast number of projects scattered throughout the downtown core certainly doesn’t make the task any easier.

 

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Aura condo construction approaches 50th floor

Aura condos

December 14 2012: Early morning sunshine glints off the east face of the Aura condo tower under construction at the NW corner of Yonge & Gerrard Streets

 

48 of 78: Bright sunny days have been few and far between in Toronto lately. But thanks to the Aura condo tower under construction at College Park, I can immediately tell if the morning sky is clear without looking out a window or even getting out of bed, for that matter. That’s because my apartment gets completely flooded with brilliant sunlight reflected by the glass windows and cladding on Aura, several blocks to the southwest.

Last week, Aura passed the two-thirds point of construction when work started on its 48th floor. The tower will ultimately rise 78 storeys, becoming the tallest residential condominium building in Canada.

 

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