But you have to go to all the way to Ward’s, the easternmost island, to get views of Aura Condos at Yonge & Gerrard. Although it will become Canada’s tallest residential skyscraper when construction tops off at 78 storeys, surprisingly enough it doesn’t yet pack much visual punch on the skyline — when viewed from the islands, at least.
Below is a series of photos that compare the past year’s changes to various skyline views.
More photos can be seen in the Island views of downtown Toronto album on thetorontoblog.com’s Flickr page.
September 11 2012: The upper floors of the TD Centre’s black-clad TD West Tower and TD North Towers (left) are still visible from the Toronto Islands, while construction of the ÏCE Condominium towers and the Infinity 3 Condominium towers (center) is just beginning to hint at how much the south core highrises will change the look of the skyline.
September 4 2013: Views of the two TD Centre towers are now obscured by construction of the 45-storey Delta Toronto Hotel and the 30-storey Bremner Tower office building at Southcore Financial Centre, while the two ÏCE Condominium towers (center) completely dominate this view of the skyline. At far right is The L Tower on Yonge Street at The Esplanade.
September 4 2013: The Hanlan’s Point ferry offered this good view of the sleek Delta Toronto Hotel tower. The cranes to its right are building the Bremner Tower office building, the hotel’s next door neighbour at Southcore Financial Centre.
September 11 2012: So far only the construction crane (far left) is visible at the site of the Library District Condominium project at CityPlace
September 4 2013: The 29-storey Library District Condominium building now holds pride of place at the far western end of CityPlace
September 4 2013: A telephoto view of the Library District Condominium (center), which is approaching the conclusion of construction at CityPlace
September 11 2012: The concrete frame for The L Tower (center) continues to rise higher towards its 57-floor peak
September 4 2013: Most of the windows and cladding have now been installed on The L Tower, while construction of its rooftop mechanical levels continues. The building under construction to the right of The L Tower is the 30-storey RBC WaterPark Place, a new office tower on Queen’s Quay Boulevard.
September 11 2012: A view of The L Tower and its giant white construction crane, the tallest crane in the city
September 4 2013: Work continues on The L Tower’s penthouse and the tower’s distinctively-shaped rooftop mechanical levels
September 11 2012: Although still concrete shells, The L Tower and the midrise buildings of the Residences of Pier 27 condominium project already stand out on the southeast side of the downtown core
September 4 2013: Most of the cladding and windows have now been installed on both The L Tower and the Residences of Pier 27 condominium buildings
September 11 2012: Construction is well underway on the SkyBridge topping the two eastern buildings of the Pier 27 condo project (right), but the steel structure for the SkyBridge on the western towers has not yet been put in place.
September 4 201: Both SkyBridge structures are in place, but installation of their windows and cladding has not yet begun.
September 11 2012: A view of SkyBridge construction progress on the east towers of the Pier 27 condo complex
September 4 2013: Most of the windows and cladding have been installed on the two east towers
September 11 2012: Looking toward the Pier 27 condo site from the southwest. Construction of the 34-storey Market Wharf condo tower near the St Lawrence Market is visible behind the new buildings.
September 4 2013: The SkyBridges atop the Pier 27 condo buildings now obscure views of the Market Wharf condo highrise to its northeast
September 11 2012: Window and cladding installation only has a few floors to go at the 34-storey Market Wharf condo highrise on Jarvis Street south of the St Lawrence Market
September 11 2013: Another view of construction progress on the Market Wharf condominium building
September 4 201: A vsouthwest view of the completed Market Wharf tower
September 4 2013: Construction of upper levels of the Aura condominium tower is now clearly visible above the Spire Condominium at Lombard & Church Streets and the Market Wharf condo (right)
September 4 2013: A good view from the Islands of the Market Wharf, Spire and Aura towers. The green-hued glass building on the waterfront is Corus Quay.
September 4 201: Another Ward’s Island view of Market Wharf, Spire and Aura
September 11 2012: Balcony panel installation continues at the Distillery District’s Clear Spirit Tower (left), while construction is well underway on the Gooderham condo tower next door
September 4 2013: The Gooderham tower is now substantially complete
September 4 2013: When you look towards the CN Tower from Ward’s Island, you can’t help but notice the two ÏCE Condominium towers rising to its east
September 4 2013: Another island view of the CN Tower and ÏCE Condominiums
Above is a link to the Island views of downtown Toronto photo album on thetorontoblog.com’s Flickr page. The album contains full-size versions of the September 2013 images shown above, along with additional photos not published in this post. Click twice on the image to access the album.
Above is a brief video showing a Ward’s Island view of the downtown Toronto skyline on September 4 2013