Looking south on Bay Street, from Scollard Street, shortly past 2 p.m. this afternoon. The entire block was closed to vehicles and pedestrians
With a television cameraman filming the action, two construction workers sweep debris from Bay Street while another crew inspects hoarding on the Bay Street sidewalk next to the Four Seasons hotel + condo construction site
Construction accident: It’s amazing nobody was hurt when a load of construction cement fell 53 storeys from the top of the Four Seasons hotel and condo tower and splattered onto Bay Street shortly after lunchtime today. The construction accident occurred around 1.20 p.m., but police and bystanders said no-one was injured and no vehicles or buildings damaged when cement showered onto the pavement between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Streets. That section of Bay Street is typically busy with steady daytime traffic, including city buses, and dozens of pedestrians would have been walking along nearby sidewalks at the time. According to a story in the Toronto Star’s online edition, the mishap occurred when concrete was being poured into a mould on the 53rd floor of the tower, which will rise a total of 55 storeys once construction is completed. When the mould buckled, the concrete rained down onto the street. Police closed the entire block between Yorkville and Scollard so crews could clean the cement spill while staff from the provincial Ministry of Labour investigated the cause of the accident. A street cleaning machine was brought in to assist several construction workers using push brooms to sweep up the mess. Traffic throughout Yorkville was snarled as pedestrians and vehicles were forced to detour around the street closure. I arrived at the Bay/Yorkville intersection just as the crews finished sweeping the street, so there was little to see other than yellow “do not cross” tape and police vehicles barring access to the block, along with dozens of curious onlookers gazing upward at the tall glass tower and asking each other what had happened. Below are several photos I snapped at the scene. Additional photos of the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences can be viewed in my April 1 2011 post about progress on the construction project.
A view of Bay Street from the northwest corner of Bay and Yorkville Avenue, outside The Regency condominium building
A media photographer chats with police at the northeast corner of Bay & Yorkville
Television cameramen filming from the northwest corner of Bay & Yorkville
A TV cameraman films police standing a block away at Scollard Street
A TV cameraman shoots footage of the Four Seasons while pedestrians look up at the hotel/condo tower and traffic detours past the site
The police roadblock at Scollard Street, outside the Four Seasons West Residence
The Four Seasons’ East and West Residence towers viewed from the northwest
Two construction workers atop the Four Seasons’ 26-storey East Residence Tower
Cranes atop the West Residence tower, now 53 storeys tall on its way to 55
Tall, sleek & slender: It’s the tallest tower in Yorkville, yet the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences hasn’t even topped off at its full 55 floors yet. But the sleek glass skyscraper and its 26-storey condo sibling have literally brightened up the east block of Bay Street between Scollard Street and Yorkville Avenue. When sunshine glints off the curtain glass walls of the East and West Residence towers on a clear day, it’s almost blinding. And even though the two-tower construction site is still surrounded by hoarding and scaffolding, and covered in dust and grime, it feels like it has significantly classed-up the corner at Bay & Yorkville already. I’m loving the look of these shiny towers, from all angles, and think the complex will be a stunning addition to the streetscape once construction is complete.
The five-star Four Seasons Hotel & Residences was designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance, and is being built by Menkes Construction Ltd. The West Residence is a mixed-use tower featuring a 253-room Four Seasons Hotel on the first 20 floors, and 101 private condominium residences on the upper 35 storeys. The East Residence will have 103 condominiums, and is linked to the west tower by an elevated pedestrian walkway about eight floors above the ground.
I previously published photos of the Four Seasons construction in a January 26 post; below is a series of photos from February, March and today which show how much progress has been made since then.
February 10 2011: Construction of the Four Seasons towers (and, to the right, the Florian condo tower) viewed from Yonge St. near Roxborough St. in Rosedale
February 23 2011: East view of the towers from Yorkville Avenue
February 23 2011: Southwest view of the East Residence condo tower
February 23 2011: Yorkville Avenue view of the two towers
February 23 2011: Looking way up the south side of the West Residence tower
February 23 2011: The southeast corner of the West Residence tower
February 23 2011: Construction elevator on the West Residence tower
March 16 2011: The Four Seasons Hotel & Residences complex viewed from the northwest corner of Bay and Scollard Streets
March 16 2011: A health club, spa, swimming pool, ballroom and conference centre will be situated in this eight-storey wing at the corner of Bay and Scollard Streets
March 16 2011: The Four Seasons complex shines in the late afternoon sunshine
March 16 2011: The West Residence tower viewed from Bay Street
March 16 2011: Looking up the West Residence tower from Bay Street
March 16 2011: The southwest corner of the West Residence tower
March 16 2011: The south side of the West Residence Tower
March 24 2011: The towers viewed from Hazelton Avenue at Scollard Street
March 24 2011: The towers viewed from Hazelton Avenue at Scollard Street
March 24 2011: From Avenue Road, a view of the “old” Four Seasons Hotel, right, and the new tower rising two blocks to the east on Yorkville Avenue.
March 24 2011: The West Residence tower rises on the Yorkville skyline in this view from the intersection of Yonge and Wellesley Streets
April 1 2011: Southwest view of the West Residence tower
April 1 2011: Bay Street view of the West Residence tower
April 1 2011: A construction elevator rises up the side of the West Residence
April 1 2011: The West Residence tower seen from Avenue Road near the Museum subway station entrance outside the Royal Ontario Museum
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).
Architects’ rendering of the new Four Seasons Toronto hotel + condo complex
Four Seasons Toronto seen from Scollard Street January 9
Four Seasons Toronto seen from Church near Yonge on January 9
Four Seasons Toronto from Avenue Rd at Yorkville Avenue on January 9
Four Seasons Toronto seen from Bloor Street opposite Holts on January 9
Four Seasons Toronto seen from Scollard Street on January 9
Four Seasons Toronto seen from Bay Street at Davenport Road on January 9
