Couture Condos construction site | www.TheTorontoBlog.com

February 8 2011: A Caterpillar 321C excavator digs at the top of a tall pile of earth in the southeast corner of the Couture Condos excavation site on Ted Rogers Way in the Bloor/Jarvis neighbourhood.

February 8 2011: Foundation construction for the 44-storey condo tower proceeds on the northern two-thirds of the project site while excavation continues on the southern section, next to the X Condos tower.

February 16 2011: The huge mound of earth doesn’t seem to be getting any smaller

March 16 2011: The pile of earth in the southeast corner has shrunk considerably, and foundation construction has commenced at the southwest corner of the site.

March 16 2011: The Cat excavator sits at the P4 level of the Couture site — the lowest parking level for the highrise condo building.

March 24 2011: The Cat excavator gets a helping hand from above the day after a late March snowfall.

April 2 2011: The excavation is nearly complete in the southeast corner as P4 foundation construction approaches the Cat excavator.

April 22 2011: With the excavation finished in the southeast corner, construction of the rest of the P4 level foundation proceeds quickly.

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.