Tag Archives: Four Seasons Toronto

Untinted cladding lets 55-storey Four Seasons Toronto hotel & condo tower ‘blend into the sky’

Four Seasons Toronto

August 31 2012:  The 55-storey Four Seasons Toronto hotel and condo tower viewed from the corner of Hazelton Avenue and Scollard Street

 

Light & airy: Every time I have looked up at the new Four Seasons Hotel and condo tower in Yorkville, I’ve been amazed that it doesn’t appear to soar 55 storeys high. It does look and feel very tall, of course, but it doesn’t have a hulking, looming or even overwhelming presence like many towers just half its height. I never understood why — until I read “A tower that aims to ‘blend into the sky” in the August 31 Globe and Mail.

In the article, architecture columnist John Bentley Mays relates a conversation he had with the Four Seasons Toronto architect, Peter Clewes of architectsAlliance.

Clewes explains how the skyscraper was designed to be “light on its feet,” achieving “a kind of fading of the tower where it meets the sky.” Different types of glass cladding were extensively researched and tested to see how they would relate to the sky; ultimately, an American-made high-performance glass with no tint was selected.

“We wanted something …. that would take on the character of the sky without being hyper-reflective,” Clewes said, adding that the glass helps the tower “just blend into the sky.”

 

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Four Seasons Toronto towers getting exterior finishing touches, landscaping installation

Four Seasons Toronto West Tower

August 6 2012: The soaring 55-storey West Tower of the Four Seasons Toronto Hotel + Residences complex at the northwest corner of Bay Street and Yorkville Avenue

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~ Continued from previous post ~

Below is a series of photos showing recent construction activity on the lower levels of the Four Seasons Toronto hotel and condo towers, along with link to a short videoclip shot during the Civic Holiday long weekend.

 

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Neighbourhood Watch: Photos of Bloor-Yorkville area condos and construction activity (Part 2)

Casa condominium tower on Charles Street West

May 5 2011: The 46-storey Casa condo on Charles Street West, viewed from a driveway between the Bloor Street Neighbourhood condo (left) and the St Charles Court apartment building (right)

 

Bloor Street Neighbourhood condos

May 5 2011: looking up at the L-shaped Bloor Street Neighbourhood condo tower

 

Bloor Street Neighbourhood condos

May 5 2011: Balconies on the west side of Bloor Street Neighbourhood

 

driveway betwen Bloor Street Neighbourhood condo tower and Charles Court apartments

May 5 2011: South view toward the Casa condo tower from a driveway linking Hayden Street and Charles Street between the Bloor Street Neighbourhood condo tower and Charles Court apartments

 

walkway between Charles Court apartments and Bloor Street Neighbourhood condo tower

May 5 2011: Pedestrians take a short-cut north to Hayden Street along the driveway between the Charles Court apartments (left) and the Bloor Street Neighbourhood condo tower

 

Uptown Residences and Crystal Blu condo towers

May 6 2011: A driveway just two vehicles wide is all that separates The Uptown Residences (left) and Crystal Blu Condos, new condo towers on Balmuto Street

 

Uptown Residences condo tower

May 6 2011: Construction on the exterior of The Uptown Residences is complete — except for the condo tower’s main entrance on Balmuto Street

 

Four Seasons Toronto Hotel + Residences

May 6 2011: Construction of the Four Seasons Toronto Hotel + Residences, viewed from outside The Uptown Residences

 

Four Seasons Toronto Hotel + Residences

May 6 2011: Four Seasons Toronto Hotel + Residences viewed from Balmuto Street

 

Four Seasons Toronto hotel + residences

April 30 2011: Four Seasons Toronto Hotel + Residences tower viewed from the northwest corner of Bloor and St Thomas Streets

 

Four Seasons Hotel + Residences Toronto

May 5 2011: Four Seasons Hotel + Residences Toronto construction viewed from Church Street near Park Road

 

Milan condo tower at Yonge & Church

April 23 2011: Looking south at the excavation progress for the Milan condo tower under construction at Yonge & Church

 

Milan condo tower at Yonge & Church

April 23 2011: View toward the southeast corner of the Milan condo tower excavation site, from the Canadian Tire store parking lot next door

 

Milan condo tower at Yonge & Church

April 23 2011: Deep excavation in the site’s southeast corner on Church Street

 

Milan condo tower at Yonge & Church

April 23 2011: Excavation activity near the Yonge subway line at the north side of the Milan condo tower construction site

 

Milan condo tower at Yonge & Church

April 23 2011: The Milan condo tower excavation entrance ramp off Church Street

 

Milan condo tower at Yonge & Church

May 5 2011: A view of the Milan excavation from the site’s southeast corner on Church Street, as a subway train passes the east side of the construction area.

 

Milan condo tower at Yonge & Church

May 5 2011: Church Street view through security fencing toward the northeast corner of the Milan condo tower construction site

 

Milan condo tower at Yonge & Church

May 5 2011: Looking north from Church Street toward the Canadian Tire store next to the Milan condo construction zone

 

Milan condo tower at Yonge & Church

May 5 2011: view toward the east side of the Milan site from the Church Street construction entrance ramp

 

Milan condo tower at Yonge & Church

May 5 2011: Church Street view of the Milan site, looking northeast

 

Seventy Seven Charles West condos

April 30 2011: Construction progress at the Seventy Seven Charles West condos viewed from Charles Street

 

Seventy Seven Charles West condos

April 30 2011: Seventy Seven Charles West condos viewed from the corner of St Thomas and Charles Streets

 

Seventy Seven Charles West condos

April 30 2011:  Looking south on St Thomas Street at the Seventy Seven Charles West condos

 

One St Thomas condo tower

April 22 2011: A window washer descends the south side of the 29-storey One St Thomas condo tower, which sits directly across Charles Street from the Seventy Seven Charles west condo construction site

 

One St Thomas condo tower

April 22 2011:  The cleaner works his way down the limestone-clad wall

 

One St Thomas condo tower

April 22 2011: His job perk is a view inside some of the city’s most exclusive luxury condos

 

One St Thomas condo tower

April 22 2011: The tower, which evokes highrise buildings from 1920s and 1930s-era New York City, was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects

 

Nicholas Residences condo construction site

May 6 2011: Hoarding is installed along St Nicholas Street and heavy machinery positioned on St Mary Street as crews prepare to demolish buildings where the Nicholas Residences condo tower will be constructed

 

Nicholas Residences condo tower construction site

May 6 2011: This building was formerly home to Regis College, the Jesuit Graduate Faculty of Theology at the University of Toronto. The interior has been gutted, and demolition of the brick exterior is imminent

 

Nicholas Residences condo tower construction site

May 6 2011: Nicholas will rise 35 storeys next to the Church of Scientology Toronto building, left, at the corner of Yonge & St Mary Streets

 

U Condos construction site

April 30 2011: Bay Street view of excavation progress at the U Condos construction site, looking northwest toward hoarding along St Mary Street. The construction crane for the Seventy Seven Charles West condo building rises behind Loretto College, the 6-storey brick building toward the upper left of the photo.

 

U Condos construction site

April 30 2011: Looking from Bay Street toward excavation machinery at the northwest corner of the U Condos construction site

 

A shoring machine on the U Condos construction site

April 30 2011: A shoring machine on the U Condos construction site

 

U Condos foundation construction

April 30 2011 A steel I-beam sunk into the ground to help shore up the huge U Condos site for excavation and foundation construction

 

U Condos construction site excavation

April 30 2011: Southward view from St Mary Street of excavation progress on the U Condos construction site

 

U Condos construction site excavation

April 30 2011 St Mary Street view toward the southeast corner of the U Condos construction site

 

U Condos construction site

April 30 2011 St Mary Street view toward the southwest corner of the U Condos construction site

 

U Condos construction site

April 30 2011 St Mary Street view toward the southwest corner of the U Condos construction site

 

U Condos construction site

April 30 2011: A shoring machine in the SW corner of the U Condos site

 

Four Seasons Toronto hotel & condominium towers establish a new landmark for Yorkville district

Four Seasons Toronto

Four Seasons towers rising above the Yorkville Ave. fire station and library

Rapid rise: Even though it’s still under construction, the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences Toronto has already become a new  landmark for the Yorkville neighbourhood. You can’t miss it as you approach the Yonge Street Canadian Tire store from Church Street. It’s obvious from the Annex and from many places along Avenue Road, Bay and Yonge Streets. You can even see it from the south side of Bloor across from Holt Renfrew. That’s no small achievement considering that views toward Yorkville are blocked by some of the area’s oldest skyscrapers (the Manulife Centre and the two bank towers at Yonge & Bloor) as well as several new towers (18 Yorkville, Crystal Blu and Uptown Residences, to name but three). It certainly will make it easy to help guide tourists to Yorkville (I won’t have to point at the CIBC tower at 2 Bloor West anymore and say “go there; Yorkville’s right behind it;” I’ll be able to point out the Four Seasons instead. Designed by hotshot Toronto firm architectsAlliance, the two-tower complex is a project of Menkes Developments. Below is an architectural rendering of the property, along with some pics I recently took of the Four Seasons complex from several different perspectives in and around Yorkville. You can view even more photos of construction progress on the blog’s Photo Sets page (just click on the red tab at the top of this page and scroll down to the Four Seasons album).

Four Seasons Toronto

Architects’ rendering of the new Four Seasons Toronto hotel + condo complex


Four Seasons Toronto

Four Seasons Toronto seen from Scollard Street January 9


Four Seasons Toronto

Four Seasons Toronto seen from Church near Yonge on January 9


Four Seasons Toronto

Four Seasons Toronto from Avenue Rd at Yorkville Avenue on January 9


Four Seasons Toronto

Four Seasons Toronto seen from Bloor Street opposite Holts on January 9


Four Seasons Toronto

Four Seasons Toronto seen from Scollard Street on January 9


Four Seasons Toronto

Four Seasons Toronto seen from Bay Street at Davenport Road on January 9