Bay Street condo and apartment towers stand in silhouette under fiery orange clouds during tonight’s sunset (as seen from my balcony east of Jarvis Street). The buildings topped by construction cranes are the two U Condos towers at Bay and St Mary Streets (far right) and the FIVE Condos tower at Yonge and St Joseph Streets (second from right). Bookending the view at far left are the Murano and Burano condo towers at Bay and Grosvenor Streets.
I snapped this picture of the Toronto Trump Tower as the moon crept across the southern sky yesterday evening at 8 p.m. Click the photo to view it full size.
April 4 2013: Construction is proceeding on schedule for a summer opening of the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada (foreground), located on Bremner Boulevard at the foot of the CN Tower. The new aquarium is one of eight different buildings seen at various stages of construction in this photo shot from the pedestrian walkway on the east side of the Rogers Centre. Rising behind the aquarium are, from left, The L Tower, the Delta Toronto Hotel and Bremner Tower office building at Southcore Financial Centre, the two cylindrical ÏCE Condos skyscrapers, and the two towers of the Infinity3 Condominiums. Click on the photo to view it in a larger format.
August 31 2012: This was my balcony view of the last sunset of August yesterday, as the brilliant white orb descended toward the horizon between the condo tower at 1001 Bay Street, left, and the 22 Condominiums highrise on Wellesley Street East, right
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June 21 2012: Striking hues of orange and blue created a dramatic backdrop for Yonge & Bloor-area office and condo towers at sunset today. Below are several more shots of the Yorkville skyline at sunset.
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March 16 2011: Balconies on the west side of X Condos near Bloor & Jarvis
March 16 2012: Construction progress on Cinema Tower as seen from Peter Street to the northwest, looking through a construction entrance to the Peter Street condominiums location at the northeast corner of Peter and Adelaide Streets. I published photo updates of Cinema Tower in a March 9 2012 post, and reported on demolition activity at Peter Street Condominiums on February 21 2012.
March 7 2012: A construction worker gazes at downtown Toronto from the curved west building of the 2-tower ÏCE Condos complex currently under construction at the southwest corner of York Street and Bremner Boulevard. Construction of the oval-shaped tower has reached more than 11 levels so far, on its way to 57 storeys. A project of Lanterra Developments, ÏCE Condos was designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance.
March 7 2012: Looking south from Bremner Boulevard towards the ÏCE Condos construction site. At left, construction of the 67-storey east tower has reached 3 levels while its sibling, center, has already climbed 11 levels on its way to 57. A 31-storey office building will eventually be constructed on the parking lots site in the foreground. The building under construction to the right is the Infinity3 condo tower, which has risen 9 floors on its way to 34. Infinity3 is a project of The Conservatory Group, and was designed by E.I. Richmond Architects Ltd.
Skaters enjoy the rink at Nathan Phillips Square under sunny skies and mild 16-degree temperatures Wednesday afternoon. A National Historic Site, Toronto’s Old City Hall provides a grand backdrop for those enjoying their icetime. Built from 1889-1899, Old City Hall was designed by Toronto architect E.J. Lennox.
March 7 2012: This gruff-looking construction supervisor keeps his hardhat tipped over his eyes to cut the glare from the afternoon sunshine beaming down on the Theatre Park condo construction site on King Street West
Bulldog boss: I’ve occasionally seen dogs doing security duty at construction sites, but today marked the first time I’ve seen one wearing a white hardhat and supervising the humans working on an excavation for a condo tower project.
The stern-faced bulldog boss was sitting motionless on the roof of a black 4×4 parked at the south end of the Theatre Park condo construction site on King Street West, watching silently while workers in earth-moving machines continued making progress on the excavation for the 47-storey point tower.
While I was shooting the pooch’s picture through a security fence on the west side of the site, several passersby came over to see what had caught my attention. Within moments, half a dozen people were pressing cellphones against the chainlink fence, snapping their own pics of the catatonic canine. Some actually thought the dog was real, including one woman who exclaimed : “Oh, he’s so cute … but how does he manage to keep that helmet on his head?” One fellow started intently through the fence and said: “I think it’s fake. It can’t be real. I don’t think they’re allowed to bring pets to construction sites.” Another said to me: “That’s hilarious. It’s great to see these guys have a good sense of humour. They’ve got a rough job.” Or did he mean “ruff”?
Theatre Park is a project of Lamb Development Corp, Niche Development and Harhay Construction Management Ltd. The condo tower was designed by architectsAlliance.
Below are a few more photos I snapped of the construction crew’s bulldog mascot, along with a site photo I shot at the end of January when foundation drilling and shoring was underway. Those are followed by an artistic illustration, from the Theatre Park website, showing how the tower will look. More information, photos and illustrations of the project are provided in my January 5 2012 post and in my February 19 2011 post.
The plastic pooch basks in the sun from his perch on the roof of a truck
The 4×4 sits at the south end of the Theatre Park condo tower construction site, where crews have dug down more than six feet so far
Overlooking the excavation through a chainlink fence at the southwest corner of the site, next to the Royal Alexandra Theatre
January 31 2012: A drilling rig works on the Theatre Park construction site after a light snowfall, one of the few Toronto experienced this winter
The 47-storey point tower was designed by architectsAlliance. This illustration appears on the Theatre Park website.
A light layer of snow covers the sharply-angled east side of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal on January 21 2012. Designed by “starchitect” Daniel Libeskind, the glass and aluminum-clad extension to the Royal Ontario Museum slices into the sky above Bloor Street. Below are several more wintertime views of the Crystal.
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Rising in the east: Construction cranes and condo towers old & new dominate the southeast downtown skyline, seen here from the south building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on January 6 2012. From left are: the green-windowed west tower of London on the Esplanade Condos, completed in 2010; The L Tower, a Daniel Libeskind-designed condo more than one-third of the way to its ultimate height of 57 floors; the 33-storey wedge-shaped condo tower at 25 The Esplanade, constructed 14 years ago; the 25-storey Market Wharf condo tower rising on Lower Jarvis Street; and, climbing skyward in the distance behind Market Wharf, the 40-storey Clear Spirit condo tower in the Distillery District. The yellow crane in the foreground is working on the $640 million Union Station Revitalization project.
The vast construction zone for the new West Don Lands Community is seen in this image taken by a Waterfront Toronto webcam this afternoon. The 80-acre site was blanketed with light snow this morning, less than 24 hours after Waterfront Toronto and Infrastructure Ontario announced that long-awaited construction is finally commencing on the new mixed-use residential community a short distance east of the downtown business district. The highrise under construction at upper left is the 40-storey Clear Spirit condo tower in the nearby Distillery District.
Construction progress on the 75-storey Aura at College Park condo tower is seen in this image captured from a webcam on the Aura website.
Excavation activity at the Nicholas Residences condo site near Yonge & Bloor
Shoring work continues on the FIVE Condos site at Yonge & St Joseph Streets
Snow-covered steel I-beams and construction equipment on the FIVE Condos site
A worker directs traffic past the ETFO office building site on Isabella Street
Another view of progress on the 4-storey ETFO office headquarters
Overlooking the long, rectangular excavation for the 49-storey X2 Condos tower under construction at the southwest corner of Jarvis & Charles Streets
Crews have nearly completed digging the deep excavaton for the X2 Condos tower. The construction crane is expected to be installed soon
Interior demolition work continues on the eight-storey office building at 45 Charles Street East, future site of the Chaz.Yorkville condo tower.
Despite the light snow cover, a drilling rig (rear right) was busy jackhammering a concrete pad at the northwest corner of the Chaz.Yorkville site
Two major construction projects at the southwest corner of Bay & Grosvenor Streets: Burano Condos, left, and the Women’s College Hospital redevelopment.
The new Women’s College Hospital building has risen five floors so far on what was formerly the site of the hospital’s multi-level parking garage
The soaring glass atrium on the north (Grosvenor Street) side of Burano Condos
A view of the atrium from the north side of Grosvenor Street
A publicly-accessible piazza, designed by landscape architects Janet Rosenberg + Associates, will be constructed next to the atrium
The sharply angled glass panels of the atrium provide a striking contrast to the condo tower that soars 50 storeys straight up above it
A Harbourfront Centre webcam image of progress on the new underground parking garage for York Quay Centre. Concrete floor slabs have been poured for the 3 below-grade levels, and work will start soon on the ground-level roof over the structure. New outdoor public spaces will be created on top.
January 7 2012: A midafternoon view of the Toronto Financial District skyline from Cherry Street, just outside the sprawling construction site for what will become the athletes’ village for the 2015 Pan Am Games.
January 9 2012: Morning sunshine glints off windows on the southeast corner of the Casa Condominium near Yonge & Bloor Streets. The 46-storey tower at 33 Charles Street East was designed by architectsAlliance and built by Cresford.
