Tag Archives: Couture Condominium

Window and cladding installation close to completion at Couture Condominium tower

Couture Condos

September 1 2012: Couture Condo’s east side, from Mt Pleasant Road

 

Glassing in: Window and cladding installation is nearly finished on the Couture Condominium tower under construction at 28 Ted Rogers Way (the northernmost block of Jarvis Street, just below Bloor Street). With glass balcony panel installation currently in progress, the tower exterior should look complete within a few weeks.

 

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52-storey condo tower proposed for site of historic Selby Hotel on Sherbourne near Bloor

Clarion Selby Hotel & Suites

The Clarion Hotel & Suites Selby mansion at 592 Sherbourne Street is where celebrated writer Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Hadley, lived in the 1920s while Hemingway worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star.

 

Tower and townhouses: A condominium complex featuring a 52-storey tower with a 4-level podium and 5 townhouses has been proposed for the site of an historic 130-year-old Victorian mansion on Sherbourne Street near Bloor Street.

Designed by architect David Roberts and constructed in 1882 for the founder of Toronto’s Gooderham and Worts Distillery, the mansion is perhaps best known as the residential hotel where Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Ernest Hemingway lived in the 1920s while working as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star.

 

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Halfway there: Couture Condos climbs to 21st floor as cladding installation gets underway

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Looking up the west side of the Couture Condominium tower (center) from nearby Hayden Street. Now 21 storeys, Couture will soon overtake the 28-storey Residences on Bloor apartments to its north (left) and ultimately rise nearly as high as the 44-floor X Condominium tower to its south.

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Couture Condominium viewed from the southwest. Cladding installation has commenced on the second floor.

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Newly-installed grey cladding on the tower’s southwest corner

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Another view of cladding on the tower’s west side

 

Halfway up: The Couture Condominium tower continues its ascent half a block south of the intersection of Bloor & Jarvis Streets. When I passed by the project site last Friday, a construction supervisor told me that crews were working on the 21st floor — almost the halfway point for the luxury condo highrise. (The Couture website states that the tower will have 44 floors, but the supervisor and a construction worker both insisted the building will be topping off at 42. However, a September 2011 construction update on the website says “the project consists of a 2 level podium, from which the 42 storey tower emerges.” )

It won’t be long before Couture climbs higher than its next-door neighbour to the north, the 28-storey Residences on Bloor rental apartment building at 235 Bloor Street East. But it still has a few more months of construction to go before it begins drawing serious attention away from its next-door neighbour to the south, the 44-storey X Condominium Tower at 110 Charles Street East.

A highly successful project of Monarch Group, Couture is 97% sold with only 9 suites remaining for sale. They include a 558-square-foot, 1-bedroom 1-bath “Tokyo” unit going for $349,340, and a 665-square-foot 1-bedroom + den with 1 bathroom “Milan” suite on the second floor, listed at $360,990 on the project website. (Interestingly, when I last reported on Couture’s progress in a September 3 2011 post, I noted that the website had listed a slightly larger “Tokyo” suite for a considerably lower price — $292,490 for 590 square feet.)

Couture Condominium was designed by  Graziani + Corazza Architects Inc. of Mississauga.

Below are more photos from last Friday afternoon. Photos of Couture’s earlier progress can be viewed in my posts on September 3, June 23, March 5, and January 25 of this year.

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Looking up from Ted Rogers Way (aka Jarvis Street) at the X Condominium (left), Couture Condominium, and the Residences on Bloor (right)

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Couture Condos Toronto

 November 4 2011: Street-level view of Couture’s northwest corner, where the entrance to the tower’s underground parking garage is situated

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Looking up the tower from the northeast, along Ted Rogers Way

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Couture Condominium viewed from the northeast

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Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Lower east side of Couture Condominium

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Couture hoarding along the west side of Ted Rogers Way

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Upper east floors (so far) overlooking Ted Rogers Way. Last Friday, construction crews were working on the 21st floor.

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Construction entrance at the site’s southeast corner

 

Couture Condos

November 4 2011: Southeast view of Couture (left), and the 28-storey Residences on Bloor apartment buildings at the corner of Bloor & Jarvis Streets.

 

Couture Condos Toronto

 November 4 2011: Looking up the tower’s south side from the laneway between the Couture Condominium and X Condominium properties.

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Residents on the south side of Couture and the north side of X Condominium will be close enough to compare each others’ interior decorating tastes through their living room and bedroom windows

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Cladding on the second floor’s southwest corner suite

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Another view of the cladding on the southwest corner unit

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Glass panels above the balcony on the southwest corner unit appear to be tinted a substantially darker shade than the grey cladding

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: West view of Couture and X Condominium

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: West view of Residences on Bloor, Couture and X Condominium.

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011:  Couture was designed by Graziani + Corazza Architects Inc. of Mississauga, while X Condominium was designed by Toronto’s architectsAlliance

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: The upper floors (so far) on Couture’s west side

 

Couture Condos

November 4 2011: The exterior construction elevator rises only to the 10th floor, but the tower itself has reached 21 storeys

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: The west side of Couture viewed from Hayden Street, outside the entrance to the Bloor Walk condominium building. Couture residents will have access to Bloor Walk’s indoor pool, which is situated between the two condos.

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Charles Street view of Couture rising to the north of X

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Another Charles Street view of Couture and X

 

Couture Condos Toronto

November 4 2011: Southwest view of Couture and X

 

 

Couture condo tower begins climb above grade

Couture Condos construction progress

June 22 2011: Forms for first floor walls stand in place as construction of the Couture Condominium tower climbs above street grade (seen here looking north from street level behind Couture’s neighbour, X Condos).

 

Couture Condos construction progress

June 22 2011: Concrete walls for the first floor rise above the street near the tower’s northeast corner and right beside the construction crane

 

Couture Condominium first floor construction

June 22 2011: A view of first floor construction progress, looking to the northeast

 

Couture Condominium first floor construction

June 22 2011: First floor takes shape near the building’s northeast corner

 

Couture Condominium first floor construction

June 22 2011: X Condos looms to the south as Couture’s first floor rises

 

Couture’s climb: Just weeks ago there was still a huge hole in the ground where the Couture Condominium tower has been under construction. Now that the underground levels are almost finished, the tower is pushing above grade, and walls for the first floor of the 44-storey skyscraper are taking shape.  Passersby will no longer have to peer into a large pit to watch the tower’s progress — it’s all straight up from this point. Below is a series of photos chronicling Couture’s construction progress at various times this spring.

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

April 22 2011: The foundation’s southern third slowly fills in …

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

… by June 5 2011, it has made great strides in catching up …

 

Couture Condominium foundation construction

… and by June 22 2011 most — but not all — of the foundation is finished

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

April 22 2011: Foundation viewed from the southeast corner, looking north …

 

Couture Condominium foundation construction

… by May 1 2011 crews haven’t yet made tremendous progress on the SE corner …

Couture Condominium construction

… but on May 31 2011 they’re placing forms for the first floor concrete pour …

 

Couture Condominium foundation construction

… and by June 22 2011, the corner has filled in right up to street level

 

Couture Condominium foundation construction

May 1 2011: This view from the southeast corner shows how much work remains to be done on the foundation’s southern section …

 

Couture Condominium construction progress

… but by June 22 2011 most of the foundation has filled in up to grade

 

Couture Condominium foundation construction

May 1 2011: Looking to the southwest, wall forms are seen approaching grade …

 

Couture Condominium construction

… and by June 22 2011 forms begin to rise  high above the street

 

Couture Condominium foundation construction

May 1 2011: Looking south at foundation progress at the front of Couture, along Ted Rogers Way (a.k.a. Jarvis Street) …

 

Couture Condominium construction progress

… by June 22 2011, the stretch of property along Ted Rogers Way is fully filled in

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

April 22 2011: Four underground levels visible from the site’s southeast corner

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

April 22 2011: Looking north across the center of the construction site

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

April 22 2011: Looking north across the west side of the site

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

April 22 2011: The view from the site’s southwest corner

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

April 22 2011: Looking across the site toward Ted Rogers Way

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

April 22 2011: The southeast corner has a lot of catching-up to do

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

April 22 2011: Looking west across the southern third of the Couture site

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

May 1 2011: Underground floors on the southern section slowly start to fill in

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

May 1 2011: Looking down into the southeast corner of the foundation

 

Couture Condominium construction

May 31 2011: Forms being put in place to prepare for concrete pour for the street-level main floor

 

Couture Condominium construction

May 31 2011: Another view of grade-level work on the northern third of the site

 

Couture Condos foundation construction

June 5 2011: Most of the foundation starts closing in on street level

 

Couture Condos construction progress

June 5 2011: Looking across the Couture foundation from the southwest corner

 

Couture Condos construction

June 22 2011: Looking south along Ted Rogers Way as Couture starts climbing above the street

 

Couture Condos construction progress

June 22 2011: Looking west across the northern third of the Couture site

 

Couture Condos construction

June 22 2011: Looking northwest from Ted Rogers Way

 

Couture Condos construction progress

June 22 2011: Street-level floor nearly complete at the south end of the site

 

Couture Condos construction progress

June 22 2011: The southwest side of the building isn’t completely at grade yet

 

Couture Condos construction progress

June 22 2011: Part of the first underground level remains to be closed in

 

 

Pit Stop: Work starts on Couture Condos P2 level

Couture Condos

Couture Condos foundation construction progress  on February 28 2011

 

Filling in: Winter weather has made it challenging for construction crews to stay on schedule, but the Monarch Group says it is pleased with building progress on the underground levels of its Couture Condominium tower going up at the corner of Charles Street and Ted Rogers Way (aka Jarvis Street).

If everything goes according to plan, construction should reach street grade by early June, Monarch’s High-Rise Division director of customer care, Ian H.H. Johnson, says in the condo project’s February newsletter. He said construction workers have finished  shoring the perimeter of the site, and are now starting to remove the temporary ramp on the south side of the tower excavation.

“This will allow us to continue with footing installations, in order to complete the rest of the P4 level, which is the lowest parking level. The forming of columns, walls and concrete slabs is ongoing in stages, with the P4 mostly complete, the P3 level roughly 50% complete, and work starting on the P2 level.”

Below is a Couture website rendering that suggests how the 44-storey glass tower will look once construction is complete, along with photos I shot in February of progress on the tower foundation.

 

Couture Condominium tower

Website architectural rendering of the Couture Condominium tower

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 8 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 8 2011

 

Couture Condominium Tower

February 8 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 8 2011: Excavation ramp removal begins

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 8 2011: Excavation ramp removal

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium Tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011: Construction work at the east side of the tower site

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011: Crews installing floor forms at the west end of the site

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower

February 16 2011: Workers set rebar on the forms to prepare for concrete pour

 

Couture Condominium tower construction

February 23 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower construction

February 23 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower construction

February 23 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower construction

February 28 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower construction

February 28 2011

 

Couture Condominium tower construction

February 28 2011