Tag Archives: Murano Condos

Passersby get good street-level views of Burano as condo construction hoarding comes down

Burano Condos

June 13 2012: The Burano condo tower, viewed from the north on Bay Street, has long been in public view as the construction climbed 50 floors above the ground …

 

Burano Condos Toronto

… and the 3-storey glass atrium at the north side of the Burano condo site is finally in full view, too, now that hoarding has been removed from Grosvenor Street

 

Burano Condos Toronto

 June 13 2012: Landscaping and construction of an Italian-style piazza is underway next to the atrium on the Grosvenor Street flank of the condo complex

 

Burano Condos Toronto

June 13 201: Most of the rebuilt Bay Street facade of the historic Addison automotive building is now visible as construction hoarding is gradually removed from the sidewalk

 

Burano Condos Toronto

June 13 2012: The new Women’s College Hospital building (left) rises behind the Burano condo complex, viewed here from the southeast corner of Bay and Grenville Streets

 

Better views: Construction progress on the Burano Condominium on Bay Street has been clearly visible for many months as the tower climbed 50 storeys into the sky, but now passersby are getting to see how downtown’s newest skyscraper looks at street level.

With exterior work on the Burano tower nearly complete, crews have been able to begin removing the wooden hoarding and the chainlink security fences that have obscured street-level views of the building, including its signature glass atrium on Grosvenor Street and the rebuilt brick facade of the historic Addison on Bay automotive showroom and garage along Bay Street and Grenville Street.

 

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Winter photo walks: Bay/College area Part 1

Burano Condos Toronto

February 9 2012: The south side of Burano Condos, viewed from Grenville Street

 

Progress updates: I had the opportunity to pass through the Bay & College area on my way to some recent appointments, so I brought along my camera to catch up on construction progress in the neighbourhood. My “winter photo walk” series will show you what I’ve been seeing:

 

 

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Pedestrian hurt when glass falls on Bay Street from shattered balcony panel on Murano south tower

Murano condo wood balcony panel

August 15 2011: A wood panel indicates where glass broke and fell onto Bay Street from a balcony on the south Murano condo tower this morning

 

street closure sign at Bay & Grenville Streets

August 15 2011: Police closed the east traffic lane and sidewalk on Bay Street, as well as the intersection of Bay and Grenville Streets, after broken glass from a Murano condo balcony panel plunged to the ground and hit a passerby

 

traffic jam at Bay and Grenville Streets

August 15 2011: The driving restrictions cause traffic chaos on Bay Street below the Murano towers at 3 p.m. as police wait for crews to install scaffolding on the sidewalks. A pedestrian was injured by falling glass three hours earlier.

 

South tower’s turn: Local news media are reporting that a pedestrian suffered minor injuries this morning after she was struck by pieces of broken glass that fell from a balcony panel on the south Murano condo tower at the corner of Bay and Grenville Streets.

The woman was hurt shortly before noon when a glass panel shattered on an upper-floor balcony on the tower’s northwest corner, showering pieces of glass onto Bay Street. Although reports provide conflicting information about the nature of the woman’s injuries — with some stories saying she sustained injuries to her arm, and others describing a hand injury — all media accounts say the injury was minor and not life-threatening. Although it’s fortunate the woman wasn’t seriously hurt, the incident is bound to raise serious concerns about the safety of glass balcony panels not only because it marks the second time in three days that glass has shattered on a downtown condo tower, but because it’s at least the fourth tower to experience problems with panel breakage so far this summer.

On Saturday afternoon, a panel plunged off a 32nd-floor balcony at the recently-opened One Bedford condo tower in the Annex. According to an online Toronto Star report, police said “no-one was injured when the single, large pane of glass fell, bounced off the front-door overhang and smashed onto the ground” around 2.25 p.m. Police closed Bedford Road from Bloor Street to Prince Arthur Avenue for several hours while the incident was investigated. The broken panel was replaced with a temporary wood replacement (see photos below).

On August 2, a balcony panel on the Festival Tower condo highrise shattered and fell onto John Street. Nobody was hurt in that incident, but police closed John Street between King and Adelaide Streets as a precaution until Festival Tower’s developer, The Daniels Corporation, could get safety scaffolding installed on the sidewalk. Another panel had broken on Festival Tower only three weeks before that.

On August 1, two panels shattered and fell from the north Murano condo tower at the corner of Bay and Grosvenor Streets. Those incidents occurred mere days after City of Toronto building inspectors ordered Murano’s developer, Lanterra Developments, to remove and replace all of the balcony panels and railings from the north tower. That tower has been plagued with balcony breakage; in fact, the city ordered Lanterra to undertake the balcony remediation program after two panels broke and fell from the north tower on July 21. Panels had previously fallen from that tower on several separate occasions during the past year. Lanterra, incidentally, was One Bedford’s developer.

Online reports about today’s south Murano tower incident can be viewed on cp24.com, cbc.ca, and on the Toronto Star website, where there is a photo showing shattered glass in the balcony frame before it was cleared out and replaced with a piece of wood. [Additional updated coverage is provided in an August 16  2011 online story in the Globe and Mail.]

I have published extensive information and photos from previous balcony glass breakage incidents in earlier blog reports, including posts on August 4 2011, July 28 2011, July 21 2011, June 21 2011, February 2 2011, and January 18 2011. Below are photos I have taken in the past several days at Festival Tower and One Bedford, along with more pics I took this afternoon following the latest Murano panel break.

 

Festival Tower condo highrise Toronto

August 12 2011: Looking up the east side of Festival Tower, from which a balcony panel fell to the ground on John Street on August 2

 

Festival Tower condo highrise Toronto

August 12 2011: The circle indicates the Festival Tower balcony from which a glass panel plunged and smashed into pieces on John Street on August 2

 

Festival Tower balcony panels

August 12 2011: The broken panel has been replaced with a new one which appears to be a slightly different shade than the originals on the tower

 

One Bedford Condos Toronto

July 13 2011: Looking up the west side of the One Bedford condo tower. On Saturday, a glass panel fell from a 32nd floor balcony on this side of the building.

 

One Bedford Condos Toronto

August 14 2011: A piece of wood is temporarily replacing the glass panel that broke and fell from this One Bedford balcony on Saturday

 

One Bedford condo tower Toronto

August 14 2011: A closer view of the One Bedford condo balcony from which a glass panel fell on the weekend. Fortunately, no-one was hurt.

 

Murano north condo tower Toronto

August 12 2011: The north side of the north Murano condo tower, from which all balcony glass panels, dividers and railings have been removed on order by the City of Toronto. The removal and replacement project will cost the condo building’s developer, Lanterra Developments, millions of dollars.

 

Murano north and south condo towers Toronto

August 12 2011: The north Murano tower, sans balcony panels and railings, and the south tower rising behind it on Grenville Street

 

Murano north condo tower Toronto

August 12 2011: Scaffolding protects the sidewalk outside the north Murano condo tower. For more than a week after the late July incidents, north tower residents had to enter their building through the south tower.

Murano condo towers Toronto

August 12 2011: Panels have been removed from about two thirds of the balconies on the south side of the Murano north tower

 

Murano condo towers Toronto

August 12 2011: Another view of the south side of the Murano north tower

 

Murano condos Toronto

August 12 2011: A closer look at the balconies from which glass has been removed on the north tower’s south face

 

Murano condo towers Toronto

August 15 2011: The two Murano condo towers, viewed this afternoon from the the SW corner of Bay and Grenville Streets. For the past two weeks, crews have been removing glass panels and railings from balconies on the north tower (left). Today, a panel fell off the south tower (right) for the first time.

 

Murano condo tower Toronto

August 15 2011: Glass shattered and fell this morning from a balcony (circled) on the upper northwest corner of the Murano south condo tower

 

Murano south condo tower Toronto

August 15 2011: A replacement wooden panel has temporarily been installed on the balcony from which the glass fell this morning

 

Murano condo south tower Toronto

August 15 2011: Another view of the replacement wooden panel

 

Murano south condo tower Toronto

August 15 2011: A closer look at the balcony panel from which the broken glass fell

 

Police outside Murano north condo tower Toronto

August 15 2011: Police enforce sidewalk and street lane closures on Bay Street below the north Murano condo tower.

 

Toronto police car at Bay & Grenville Streets

August 15 2011: A Toronto police cruiser blocks vehicles from turning off Bay Street onto Grenville Street

 

police at Bay & Grenville Streets Toronto

August 15 2011: Police enforce traffic restrictions at the intersection of Bay & Grenville Streets below the Murano south condo tower

 

Bay Street sidewalk outside the Murano condos

August 15 2011: The Bay and Grenville Street sidewalks below the Murano condo towers have been closed to pedestrians

 

sidewalk closure sign on Bay Street

August 15 2011: The sidewalk closure sign at the corner of Bay & Grenville Streets

 

sidewalk closure at Bay and Grenville Streets

 August 15 2011: A Toronto police officer enforces the sidewalk closure at the southeast corner of Bay and Grenville Streets

 

sidewalk closure at Bay and Grenville Streets

August 15 2011: The east lane of Bay Street was closed to vehicles, as was the section of Grenville Street below the Murano south condo tower

 

sidewalk closure at Bay and Grenville Streets

August 15 2011: Police said the road and sidewalk closures could continue until scaffolding is  installed below the Murano south tower

 

street closure sign on Grenville Street

August 15 2011: Grenville Street is closed to vehicular traffic between St Vincent Lane and Bay Street, but the south sidewalk is open to pedestrians

 

Balcony glass removal from Murano north condo tower

August 15 2011: A crew continues to remove glass panels and railings from the south side of the north Murano tower

 

 

Police close sections of downtown streets after more glass panels break on condo tower balconies

Festival Tower condos Toronto

November 29 2010:  Glass balcony panels on the Festival Tower condo highrise in the Entertainment District. Two panels on the tower have broken this summer.

 

Danger zones: In the wake of media reports that more glass balcony panels have fallen from two different downtown condo towers this week, I’m beginning to wonder if I should start wearing a hard hat whenever I leave my building. Seriously. I’m not worried about walking below my own condo building — all of the balconies on our 30-year-old highrise have metal railings. But almost every day I do walk below new condo towers that have glass balconies, and I recently walked below two of the condo towers that made headlines with balcony glass breakage this week.

On July 19, I crossed a section of Grosvenor Street that, just two days later, was showered with pieces of glass that broke on two separate balconies at the Murano condo tower at 37 Grosvenor Street. This past Monday afternoon I nearly walked up Bay Street past the Murano, but changed my mind two blocks away and took a different route. It wasn’t until an hour or so later that I learned another Murano balcony panel had shattered that very afternoon, spilling glass onto Bay Street — and that yet another panel had broken on the building’s east side just 12 hours earlier. Police cordoned off one northbound lane of Bay Street as a precaution; they already had closed part of Grosvenor Street and nearby St Vincent Lane because of the July 21 incidents. Coincidentally, I had just been walking around the Entertainment District, where I stood below the Festival Tower condo building on John Street to take photos of daredevils doing the CN Tower’s EdgeWalk.  Around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, a panel on one of Festival Tower’s 27th floor balconies shattered, raining broken glass onto John Street. I had not been aware that another balcony panel on the same tower had broken just three weeks before.

Monday’s double-break at Murano occurred mere days after contractors had started removing panels from the tower after City of Toronto building inspectors ordered Murano’s developer, Lanterra Developments, to replace the balcony glass — a multimillion-dollar remediation project that could take several months to complete.

Why has the balcony glass been breaking? Speculation is running rampant in public online discussion forums, with commentators blaming faulty manufacturing, installation, or balcony design, and some others conjecturing that developers or builders may have been “cheaping out” on materials to cut construction costs.  Some blame the recent extreme heat, some say it’s caused by wind, but at this point experts can’t yet pinpoint the precise cause of the breakage at Murano and Festival Tower.

A story posted on the Toronto Star website Tuesday quotes Jim Laughlin, a senior City of Toronto building official, as saying the City ordered Lanterra to replace the Murano balcony glass following the building’s fifth consecutive breakage incident “because we don’t know why this is happening.” The story also quotes Lanterra president Barry Fenton as saying the company has engineers “performing an autopsy of the glass to figure out what happened.” According to Fenton, the glass and railings on the Grosvenor Street Murano condo tower were installed two years ago by a company that is no longer in business. A different company installed the balconies on the adjacent Murano south condo tower at 38 Grenville Street, where no panels have broken.

Meanwhile, the CBC reports that Festival Tower’s developer, The Daniels Corporation, will temporarily install scaffolding below the building as a precautionary measure to protect pedestrians in case any more glass breaks and falls. In the meantime, police have closed John Street to traffic between King and Adelaide Streets. The CBC quotes a Daniels executive as saying the company knows why a panel shattered three weeks ago — apparently a metal railing expanded during the hot temperatures, putting too much pressure on the glass — but doesn’t know what caused Tuesday’s incident.  It’s suspected that something may have struck the glass, the executive said. “The way the balcony has been designed, it’s in accordance with all the codes and practice with construction technique but for some reason we seem to have this problem with the tempered glass is letting go,” Daniels senior vice president Tom Dutton told the CBC.

However, a University of Toronto engineering professor says glass breakage “happens all the time.” “It is known as a delayed spontaneous fracture,” Prof. Doug Perovic told the Toronto Star in a story published on the newspaper’s website Wednesday night. It could be caused either by imperfections that occur in the glass during the manufacturing process, or it could be related to the installation process. In both instances, stressors such as wind and temperature can later increase pressure on the glass, eventually causing it to fracture. Prof. Perovic is one of two engineering experts who discuss the breakage phenomenon in “Shattered glass: what causes panes to fall off,” an in-depth report posted on the CBC website today. [Note: Wednesday’s story in the Star includes a “Falling Glass” summary listing dates on which glass apparently broke on Murano and Festival Tower. It mentions June 17 as the date for one Murano breakage, an event I reported in my June 21 2011 post. In addition, the Star says Dec. 1 2010 was when the “first known pane of glass explodes and falls from the north tower of 37 Grosvenor Street”; however, in a story published on Sept. 18 2010, the Star itself reported on two breakage incidents that occurred one week apart last September. I reported on the December occurrence in a January 18 2011 post.]

It now appears that at least one more panel has broken on Festival Tower so far this year. A story in today’s Star quotes a Festival Tower resident, Omar Jabri, describing how a pane fell off his 16th floor balcony back in May. Jabri actually happened to be standing at the corner of King & John Streets on Tuesday evening when the panel on the 27th floor shattered; he told the Star he saw the glass fall onto John Street. I haven’t been able to get down to the area to take photos, but was surprised when I saw pictures in the Star and other media showing a Festival Tower balcony with a missing panel. In February, I snapped a photo of a Festival Tower balcony missing a panel, also on the east (John Street) side of the building. The pane was missing from the exact same part of the balcony railing as the pane that fell from the tower this week (see photo, below). Could that be just a curious coincidence?

Today I walked past the Murano condos to see how the glass removal project is progressing. Most of the balcony panels on the north side of the Grosvenor Street building have been removed, with four and a half floors still to go as well as several vertical rows of panes, rising about two-thirds of the way up the tower, for balconies near the northeast corner. No glass has been removed from the south side of the tower yet.  Part of Grosvenor Street and St Vincent Lane are still closed to traffic, as is the right-hand northbound lane of Bay Street between Grenville Street and Grosvenor. The Bay Street sidewalk alongside the Murano complex is completely closed to pedestrians, and police officers are stationed at both ends of the sidewalk to ensure people detour around the site.

Here’s hoping that Lanterra’s glass “autopsy” and the Daniels investigations are able to quickly pinpoint the cause of the breakage — and determine an effective solution. I’d like to be able to walk our downtown streets without having to wear protective headgear, and I’m sure most Torontonians feel the same way.

Below are recent photos of the balcony removal work at the Murano condo on Grosvenor Street, along with some photos I’ve shot in the past showing the glass balcony panes on Festival Tower.

 

Murano Condos Toronto

 July 21 2011: The Murano north tower on Grosvenor Street, left, has suffered about eight incidents of balcony glass breakage this year.

 

Murano condos toronto

 July 24 2011: A crew on a swing stage inspects the Murano north condo tower as work begins to remove all balcony glass and railings from the building.

 

Murano condos toronto

 July 24 2011: Workers remove a glass partition from between two balconies on the north side of the Grosvenor Street Murano tower

 

Murano condos Toronto

 July 27 2011: Crews remove balcony glass from the Murano north condo tower. The dismantling of all of the building’s balconies is expected to finish next week.

 

Murano Condos north tower

August 4 2011: Balcony glass removal progress on the tower’s north side

 

Murano condos north tower

August 4 2011: Panels still must be removed from four and a half full floors, along with a vertical row of balconies near the northeast corner of the building

 

Murano condos north tower

August 4 2011: A work crew removes balcony panels and railings on the north tower. The yellow signs posted on the balcony doors advise residents that they cannot use their balconies during the city-ordered remediation project.

 

Murano condo north tower

August 4 2011: A contractor removes a balcony support pillar

 

Northbound Bay Street between Grenville and Grosvenor Streets

August 4 2011: The right-hand northbound lane of Bay Street is closed between Grenville and Grosvenor Streets, as is the sidewalk. I counted seven Toronto police officers enforcing the street and sidewalk closures at lunch time today.

 

Murano Condos Toronto south tower

 July 21 2011: The Murano south condo tower at 38 Grenville Street has not experienced any balcony panel breakage

 

Festival Tower condos Toronto

 March 8 2010: Balcony panel installation underway during construction of the Festival Tower condo highrise on John Street

 

Festival Tower condos Toronto

February 3 2011: A Festival Tower balcony was missing one of its glass panels last winter. There had been no reports of glass breakage at the time.

 

Festival Tower condos Toronto

November 2 2010:  CN Tower observation deck view of the 42-storey Festival Tower that opened at King & John Streets last year. The podium is the TIFF Bell Lightbox, home to the Toronto International Film Festival

 

 

Crews removing Murano condo balcony panels after city inspectors demand glass be replaced

Murano condo north tower

July 27 2011: Sections of Grosvenor Street and St Vincent Lane below the Murano north condo tower remain closed to vehicles and pedestrians …

 

Murano condos north tower

… as crews remove hundreds of glass panels from the building’s balconies. On orders from City inspectors, the developer is replacing all of the panels.

 

Balcony blues: Residents of the Murano north condo tower at 37 Grosvenor Street won’t be able to watch summer sunsets from the comfort of their balconies for the rest of the summer … and might not even be able to walk out onto them until sometime this fall. After two glass panels fell off balconies and smashed onto Grosvenor Street last Thursday, city building inspectors ordered Murano management to keep residents off their balconies until all glass panels have been removed and replaced, the Toronto Star reported. Murano’s builder, Lanterra Developments, began the remediation work immediately, and will foot what is bound to be a substantial bill for the project.

Last week’s incident marked the third time this year that glass panels have fallen from the highrise onto the street. In the latest mishap, panels plunged from north-facing balconies on the 18th and 35th floors. The panels fell around 2 p.m. on one of the hottest and most humid afternoons of the summer. Environment Canada data show that the temperature at Pearson International Airport at the time was 37.1 Celsius, while the Humidex reading was 48. Winds were around 35 km/h.

Fortunately, no-one was injured. Nevertheless, as I reported in my July 21 2011 post about the incident, Toronto police closed part of the street and lane below the Murano tower to all pedestrian and vehicle traffic as a safety precaution. They also required north tower residents and visitors to access and exit the building through the south condo tower at 38 Grenville Street, even though scaffolding had already been installed over the Bay and Grosvenor Street sidewalks adjacent to the north tower after a balcony panel fell from the tower’s upper south side in late June.

After inspecting the north tower, staff from the City’s building division issued an order requiring that all glass balcony panels in that particular building be replaced. According to the Star, the order demanded that building management “remove the glass balcony panels from the building, remove all contents from all balconies and secure all points of access to all balconies until the remediation is complete.”

As of yesterday afternoon, work crews had removed most of the glass panels on the lower seven rows of balconies, and the sections of Grosvenor Street and St Vincent Lane alongside the building still remained off-limits to pedestrians and vehicles.

Below are photos showing balcony panel replacement activity yesterday and on Sunday.

 

Murano and Burano condo towers

July 24 2011: Plywood panels are visible on two of the upper floor balconies of the north Murano condo tower in this view from Wellesley Street West. A swing stage carrying a work crew also can be seen on the lower left side of the building.

 

Murano north condo tower

July 24 2011: A work crew inspects balcony panels from a swing stage near the northeast corner of the 37-storey tower

 

Murano north condo tower

July 24 2011: Two contractors look down from one balcony while another crew works on the balcony below them

 

Murano north condo tower balcony inspection

July 24 2011: The workers appear to be checking a glass balcony divider

 

Murano condo north tower balcony panel removal

July 27 2011: A crew ascends the building exterior where dozens of glass panels have already been removed from the balcony railings

 

 

Police close street, lane and sidewalks after more glass rains onto road from Murano condo tower

Police tape on Grosvenor Street Toronto

July 21 2011: Police tape blocks access to Grosvenor Street outside the Murano North condo tower at Bay & Grosvenor Streets this evening

 

Murano North condo tower Toronto

July 21 2011: Plywood sheets indicate where glass balcony panels have broken on the north side of the Murano North condo tower. The lower piece of plywood has been in place for at least a week. The upper panel shattered this afternoon.

 

Shattered glass on Grosvenor Street Toronto

July 21 2011: Tiny pieces of shattered balcony glass litter the asphalt on Grosvenor Street outside the Murano North condo tower

 

Police car on Grosvenor Street Toronto

 July 21 2011: A Toronto police cruiser and yellow police tape block traffic outside the Murano North condo tower at 37 Grosvenor Street …


Police car in lane next door to Murano condos

… while another cruiser and more tape block access to the laneway that runs between Grenville and Grosvenor Streets on the east side of the Murano  towers

 

Murano glass rains again: Toronto police closed part of Grosvenor Street as a safety precaution today after at least one glass balcony panel on the North Murano condo tower shattered, raining thousands of pieces of tempered glass onto the road and sidewalk below. Police and building security guards also barred residents and visitors from entering and exiting the North tower’s front doors on Grosvenor, requiring them to use the South Murano tower entrance at 38 Grenville Street instead.

Today’s incident marks at least the fifth time that a balcony panel has broken and sprayed pieces of glass onto the streets and sidewalks below the two-tower complex on the east side of Bay Street, between Grosvenor and Grenville Streets. Exactly one month ago, I reported that the Bay Street sidewalk outside the Murano towers had been taped off after glass fell from a balcony on the upper south side of the North building. See my June 21 2011 post for full details and photos of that incident, along with links to other photos, posts and local news coverage reporting on previous incidents of balcony glass falling from the tower.

Early this evening I received word from Matt, a reader of TheTorontoBlog.com, that glass had fallen from the skyscraper yet again. “Another 2 panels fell out today, one in the alley way next to the condos and the other right on Grovesnor St from level 37,” he told me. (The Murano North tower is 37 storeys tall; the South tower has 45 floors.)

I grabbed my camera and walked over to take a look. Just as Matt had advised, police had completely blocked vehicular and pedestrian traffic on Grosvenor Street, from the west side of the YMCA building over to Bay Street, as well as along St Vincent Lane — an alley which runs between Grosvenor and Grenville Streets on the east side of the Murano complex. Tiny pieces of broken tempered glass littered the concrete sidewalks and asphalt road surface throughout the closed-off area. I saw people standing on several North Tower balconies, leaning against the railings while watching the police and pedestrians on the street below them.

Over at the northeast corner of Bay and Grosvenor, two security guards were busy looking up and warning people to get off their balconies and go back inside their condos. “Get inside! Get off the balcony! Get away from the balcony!” one of the guards screamed at a woman leaning over a balcony about 15 floors high.

When I approached a policeman and one of the security guards and asked if anyone had been hurt by the falling glass, the officer just shrugged and said he didn’t know. The security guard, pointing to scaffolding that covers the Grosvenor Street sidewalk outside the condo building, said he didn’t think there had been any injuries. (A work crew had been installing additional scaffolding over the sidewalk when I walked past Murano on Tuesday morning.)

I also asked if more than one balcony panel had broken, since I couldn’t see any signs of a broken panel on the east side of the condo complex above St. Vincent Lane. However, neither the security guard nor the police officer knew if more than one panel had shattered. (A story in tonight’s online edition of the Toronto Star says that glass from two separate balconies fell to the ground.) As well, neither man knew if the condo management or developer would be taking steps to inspect and/or replace every balcony panel on the building. They also didn’t know how long the street and sidewalks were expected to stay closed; however, the Star story says the road will be closed until Monday.

As a result of today’s incident, I’m willing to bet that scaffolding will remain on the sidewalks around the Murano buildings for the rest of the summer, if not longer, while the cause of the glass breakage is investigated.

Murano isn’t the only downtown highrise building that has experienced problems with breaking balcony panels. As I reported in a February 2 2011 post, at least one panel has broken on the 46-storey Casa condominium tower on Charles Street East. And just a couple of weeks ago I spotted a piece of plywood on a balcony at one of the new apartment buildings in Regent Park; photos of that appear below. Also below are additional photos of the Murano condo from this evening and recent weeks.

 

Murano Condos North tower

June 26 2011: A piece of plywood replaces a balcony panel on the upper south side of the Murano North condo tower

 

Missing balcony panel on Murano Condos North Tower

June 26 2011 : A closer view of the missing balcony panel on the north tower

 

Scaffolding on Bay Street outside the Murano condos

June 26 2011: Scaffolding on Bay Street outside the Murano condos

 

Scaffolding outside the Murano condos North Tower

 June 26 2011: Scaffolding on Grosvenor Street outside the Murano north tower

 

Murano condos North Tower

 July 15 2011: Plywood replaces a balcony panel on the Murano north tower

 

Murano Condos North Tower

 July 15 2011: Another view of the panel missing on the north tower’s north side

 

Murano North condo tower

July 21 2011:  Bay Street view of two missing panels on Murano’s north tower

 

Grosvenor Street Toronto

  July 21 2011: The closed section of Grosvenor Street outside the Murano tower

 

Murano North Tower residents

 July 21 2011: Curious Murano north tower residents looking off their balcony 

 

Shattered glass on Grosvenor Street

  July 21 2011: Shattered glass on Grosvenor Street

 

Shattered glass on Grosvenor Street

July 21 2011: More shattered glass on Grosvenor Street

 

Police tape on Grosvenor Street Toronto

July 21 2011:  Police tape blocks access to Grosvenor Street from Bay Street

 

Scaffolding above Bay Street sidewalk outside Murano

July 21 2011: Scaffolding and barricades along the Bay Street sidewalk outside the Murano condo towers

 

Toronto police officer at Bay and Grosvenor Streets

July 21 2011: A police officer and tape at the corner of Bay and Grosvenor

 

Murano condo towers

July 21 2011: Looking up at the Murano condo towers from Grosvenor Street

 

Regent Park apartment building

July 13 2011: Plywood replaces a glass balcony panel on the 252 Sackville Street apartment building in Regent Park

 

Regent Park apartment balcony

July 13 2011: A closer view of the missing panel on the Regent Park  balcony

 

 

Sidewalk along east side of Bay Street taped off after glass falls from Murano condo towers — again

 

Bay street below Murano condos

3:15 p.m.: “Caution” tape blocks the east sidewalk on Bay Street, seen here looking south from Grosvenor toward Grenville Street. A security guard told me the sidewalk was closed as a safety precaution after glass fell from one of the Murano condo towers sometime today.

 

Overhead dangers: The sky isn’t falling this week, but you can forgive many Toronto motorists and pedestrians for thinking that it is. Yesterday, a 10-pound chunk of concrete fell from the Gardiner Expressway onto Lake Shore Boulevard near Bathurst Street, forcing the temporary closure of two lanes of traffic while crews cleaned the road and inspected the elevated expressway for additional loose pieces. (Further information about that is available in a Toronto Star article published today as well as a story that appeared in yesterday’s Globe and Mail.) Then, sometime today, glass apparently fell from one of the Murano condo towers on Bay Street, forcing building management to tape off pedestrian access to most of the sidewalk on the east side of Bay between Grosvenor and Grenville Streets as a safety measure.

Today’s broken glass/sidewalk closure incident is the latest in a series that have occurred at the popular downtown condominium complex for more than a year. A project of Lanterra Developments, Murano is a pair of attractive glass and steel condo towers that soar 45 and 37 storeys above the east side of Bay Street, between Grosvenor to the north and Grenville to the south. As I reported in a January 18 2011 post, there were three occasions last year on which glass balcony panels either shattered or loosened and fell from the towers. In April 2010, a balcony panel apparently plunged from one of the towers, smashing and cracking several panes of a glass canopy that extends along the condo building exterior above the Bay Street sidewalk.  When two more balcony panels broke last September the local media took note, with the Toronto Star publishing a September 18 2010 report headlined “Shattered glass rains down from condo tower.” Just before Christmas, I noticed that a balcony panel on the south side of the North Tower had been replaced with a piece of wood, while in late January I saw a board on yet another balcony on the other side of the same tower (see my February 2 2011 post for photos of that, as well as pics of a temporary wood panel on a balcony at the 46-storey Casa Condominium on Charles Street East).  There were no reports of injuries in any of the incidents. For most of 2010 and much of this past winter, however, scaffolding was kept in place to protect pedestrians using the sidewalks outside the Murano towers. Meanwhile, replacements for the broken and cracked panels on the canopy above the sidewalk were not installed until sometime in April of this year.

Early in May, I noticed that most of the scaffolding had been removed from the sidewalks, while just a week or two back I saw that the sidewalks were completely clear for the first time in many months. When I was heading north on Bay Street in midafternoon today, however, I encountered yellow and red “caution” tape that had been strung across the trees in front of the Murano complex, blocking most of the sidewalk from pedestrian use. Only a narrow section, with barely enough room for two pedestrians to pass each other, remained open alongside the curb. A disabled man in a motorized wheelchair came along and noticed, to his chagrin, that the section of sidewalk still open for passage was not wide enough for his chair. He proceeded to drive under the “caution” tape, which snagged on his headrest and ripped away from the trees as he rode up the middle of the sidewalk. A security guard wearing a white hardhat came racing toward him, gesturing for the man to drive his wheelchair along the edge of the sidewalk next to the road. “You can’t go up here! It’s dangerous!” he warned.

When I asked why the sidewalk was taped off, the security guard said it was because “glass fell from the tower.” He did not know whether the glass had fallen from a broken window or a balcony panel. All he could tell me was that glass had fallen to the street and the sidewalk had been cordoned off as a safety precaution. “It’s very dangerous for you here,” he told me, before scurrying down the street to replace the tape that had been torn loose by the wheelchair (several pedestrians had started walking up the middle of the sidewalk since the tape was no longer in place to indicate it was off-limits.) I didn’t see broken glass anywhere on the sidewalks; if there had been any, it had already been swept up. A police car was parked on Grosvenor outside the entrance to the Murano North Tower but, apart from the “caution” tape, there was nothing to suggest anything “dangerous” had happened. Nevertheless, I wonder if I’ll once again see scaffolding above the sidewalk next time I walk past the Muranos?

Below are two more pics showing the taped-off sidewalk today, along with photos I took during the winter of the missing and cracked canopy panels and their replacements.

 

Bay street beside Murano Condos

June 21 2011: Red caution tape blocks the Bay Street sidewalk beside the Murano Condo towers, seen here looking north from Grenville Street.

 

Bay Street beside the Murano Condo towers

June 21 2011: Red and yellow tape tied to trees blocks the Bay Street sidewalk next to the Murano condos, seen here looking south from Grosvenor Street.

 

Murano Condos on Bay Street

March 29 2011: One glass panel is cracked and others are missing from the canopy that extends above the sidewalk from the west side of the Murano towers

 

Murano Condos on Bay Street

March 29 2011: Looking up at the 45-storey Murano Condos South Tower through the space where a panel is missing from the canopy above the Bay Street sidewalk

 

Murano Condos on Bay Street

March 29 2011: Looking up at the Murano’s North Tower, left, and South Tower

 

Murano Condos on Bay Street

April 30 2011: New panels have recently been installed in the canopy

 

Murano Condos on Bay Street

April 30 2011: The glass podium of the Murano towers reflects the Burano condo tower — another Lanterra Developments project — currently under construction on the west side of Bay Street

 

 

Reflections in windows of new Burano condo tower add a golden glow to my skyline view at sunset

Burano condo tower

Windows in the Burano condo tower under construction on Bay Street reflect a deep golden glow at sunset on June 6 2011

 

Golden glow: For the past few months, I have been able to see a slim section of the new Burano condo tower’s east side from my own condo windows and balcony. Most of my view of Burano’s construction on Bay Street has been blocked by the 21-storey Ontario Coroner’s Courts building (the George Drew building) that sits a half a block to the east at 25 Grosvenor Street. I’ll be able to see much more of Burano once it rises a few floors higher in the next several weeks and overtakes  not only the coroner’s building, but also the Murano North condo tower at the corner of Bay and Grosvenor, and climbs closer to its final full height of 50 floors. But Burano already makes a striking impact on my views of the city skyline to the west — especially at sunset on clear days. On those occasions, Burano’s east windows reflect a deep golden glow as neighbouring buildings bounce the sunset against them. And during some brilliant sunsets, the reflections become so intense that Burano’s windows radiate a fiery, molten-lava-like glow that can be painful to watch without sunglasses. The sight reminds me of how Royal Bank Plaza looks when it reflects sunshine from certain angles. Below are several more recent pics of Burano’s golden glow.

 

Burano condo tower

June 6 2011: Burano condo tower windows viewed from the east

 

Burano condo tower

June 1 2011: The Burano windows have an ember-like glow as the sunset fades

 

Burano condo tower

June 3 2011: A fiery reflection off the Burano windows at sunset

 

Burano condo tower

June 3 2011: At left is the Murano South condo tower; at right, the top floors of Murano North rise above the Ontario Coroner’s Courts building on Grosvenor Street (officially known as the George Drew Building, it has no windows on its east and west sides). Burano will be the tallest building of the bunch once completed.

 

Burano condo tower

June 3 2011: It’s not until sunset that the Burano windows begin to glow boldly, as this photo taken earlier in the evening shows

 

 

Public urged to pressure politicians to create park on Wellesley St. site of stalled apartment project

11 Wellesley Street potential city park site

April 19 2011: A southwest view of hoarding around 11 Wellesley St. W., between Yonge & Bay Streets. Behind are the Murano condo towers (left), the Opera Place condos (center) and The Bay Club apartments (right), all on Bay St.

 

11 Wellesley Street West

April 9 2011: A northwest view of 11 Wellesley Street West from the corner of Breadalbane St and St Luke Lane. A half-dozen highrise apartment and condo towers, and the Sutton Place Hotel (center), overlook the site.

 

Potential parkland: Could a big piece of prime downtown real estate become a public park instead of the apartment complex that a developer had planned to build on the site? Apparently so — if enough people can convince city and provincial politicians to make it happen.

The land in question has a municipal address of 11 Wellesley Street West, and occupies the eastern half of the city block bounded by Wellesley to the north, St. Luke Lane to the east, Breadalbane Street to the south, and Bay street to the west. Over the past two decades, it has earned notoriety as a site where ambitious development plans fail to materialize.

Back in the late 1980s, the provincial government donated the entire block of land for construction of a new ballet/opera house. Various levels of government pledged tens of millions of dollars toward the project, and construction of a spectacular building designed by architect Moshe Safdie was supposed to start early in 1991. However, with Ontario in the throes of a recession and facing a $2.5 billion budget deficit, the province’s newly-elected NDP government withdrew its $65 million cash pledge. In turn, the federal government and Metro Toronto cancelled their pledges for $88 million and $20 million, respectively, and the project was cancelled.

A skateboard park occupied the site for a few years until  a developer acquired the western half of the property and built the Allegro at Opera Place condo tower and The Bay Club rental apartment building along Bay Street. The developer, Morguard, planned to build two more apartment buildings, 9 and 10 storeys tall, on the 11 Wellesley West site, along with a recreational amenities facility for the use of residents in all of the buildings (including two more Opera Place condo towers previously constructed one block south on Bay Street, between Breadalbane and Grosvenor Streets). However, shovels never got in the ground for the final phase of construction, and the property has sat vacant behind hoarding ever since — an eyesore that annoys hundreds of residents in the condos and apartments overlooking the site, not to mention passersby on Wellesley and Breadalbane.

I have long wondered why Morguard wanted to build only low-rise apartments on a location ideal for highrise development — to me, tall condo towers would suit the space better, and might even be substantially more profitable. I have also wondered why it has been taking so long for the final phase of Opera Place construction to commence. Last month, a city planning department official told a community meeting I attended that the site has sat empty for years because the developer and the Ontario Government have been embroiled in litigation over the property. No further details were provided about the nature of the dispute, but the planner said the parties are close to signing a settlement under which the province could re-acquire the land. If that does happen, the province apparently has indicated that it would be willing to give the property to the city for use as a community park — if that’s what people want.

Now, at least one neighbourhood group is encouraging residents to write to their city councillor and their MPP to say they want 11 Wellesley West turned into parkland. A page on the Bay Cloverhill Community Association website urges residents to contact City Councillor Kristyn Wong-tam and MPP Glen Murray to show their support for the creation of a new park. Will it happen? Perhaps, if enough Toronto residents put pressure on the local politicians.Personally, I favour turning the site into public green space; even though I didn’t skateboard, I still remember enjoying the wide open space along Wellesley before the skateboard park was closed off. The empty land and the unsightly hoarding have been a blight on the neighbourhood ever since, and it’s high time something creative is done to enhance the property and surrounding streetscapes. At the same time, I’m skeptical that we’ll see a new park on Wellesley anytime soon. Empty land in downtown Toronto rarely gets repurposed as parkland; inevitably, it attracts the attention of developers, and winds up sprouting condo towers instead of trees. Moreover, this particular piece of land seems to have been jinxed since the opera house plan fell apart. I hope I’m wrong. I’d really love to see trees along Wellesley.

 

11 Wellesley Street West

The 11 Wellesley Street West site appears as an empty white space in the center of this aerial image from Google Maps. The Sutton Place hotel is at top left, while the downtown YMCA is near the bottom right.

 

11 Wellesley Street West

September 28 2008: Breadalbane Street view of weeds and rubble on the 11 Wellesley Street West site

 

11 Wellesley Street West

September 28 2008: Northeast view from Breadalbane Street

 

11 Wellesley Street West

December 5 2008: East view from outside the Sutton Place Hotel

 

11 Wellesley Street West

December 5 2008: East view from Breadalbane Street

 

11 Wellesley Street West

April 17 2009: Northeast view from Breadalbane Street. The Casa condo tower is seen under construction on Charles Street to the north.

 

11 Wellesley Street West

March 11 2010: North view from Breadalbane Street

 

11 Wellesley Street West

March 11 2010: Breadalbane Street view of 11 Wellesley Street West. From time to time, someone rips out weeds and clears rubbish from the site.

 

11 Wellesley Street West

March 11 2010: Although there are dumpsters and construction trailers on the property, I’ve never seen anyone on it.

11 Wellesley Street West

March 16 2011:  Southwest view of 11 Wellesley Street West from the corner of Wellesley and St Nicholas Streets. The property is virtually surrounded by highrise condo and apartment buildings.

11 Wellesley Street West

March 27 2011: Looking north at the big empty lot. At left is the Sutton Place Hotel; at center is the Century Plaza condo tower at 24 Wellesley St. W.

 

11 Wellesley Street West

March 27 2011: A view toward the northeast corner of the lot

 

11 Wellesley Street West

March 27 2011: The property is less than half a block from Yonge Street and just a short walk from the Wellesley subway station.

11 Wellesley Street West

April 1 2011: South view of 11 Wellesley Street West from St Nicholas Street

 

11 Wellesley Street West

April 9 2011:  Now that it’s spring, weeds will once again flourish on the lot

 

11 Wellesley Street West

April 9 2011: This north view will change in a few years during construction of the 45-storey Five Condos, which will rise behind the brown building at upper left.

 

11 Wellesley Street West

April 9 2011: Residents of the condo and apartment towers have looked down on this eyesore for more than a decade

Hoarding along Breadalbane Street

April 9 2011: West view of hoarding along Breadalbane Street

11 Wellesley Street West

April 9 2011: North view of the hoarding along St Luke Lane

11 Wellesley Street West

April 9 2011: Breadalbane Street view of the towers to the north and west

Hoarding along the west side of St Luke Lane

April 9 2011: South view of the hoarding along St Luke Lane

hoarding on the north side of 11 Wellesley Street West

April 9 2011: Looking west along Wellesley from the corner of St Luke Lane

11 Wellesley Street West

April 17 2011: More rubbish, rubble and weeds await a spring cleanup


City Scene: Burano gaining on the Muranos

Burano and Murano condo towers on Bay Street

Catching up to its cousins: The Burano condo tower, left, is slowly but surely closing in on the height of the two Murano condo towers on the opposite side of Bay Street. When topped off at 48 floors, Burano will be the tallest of the bunch — Murano North is 35 storeys, while Murano South is 45. All three condo towers, seen here on March 25 2011, are projects of Lanterra Developments.

 

 

52-storey condo tower proposed for Grenville St. parking lot site near Yonge & College Streets

9 Grenville Street site for proposed condo tower

A northwest view of the proposed condo tower site at 9 – 21 Grenville Street on March 12 2011. Toronto police headquarters is the blue-domed building at left. In the middle background is the 35-storey Murano north condo tower.

 

9 Grenville Street proposed condo tower site

The condo development site viewed from Grenville Street, looking southeast, on March 12 2011.  At left is the 2 Carlton Street office building; in the middle background are The Met condo towers on Carlton Street.

 

9 Grenville Street proposed condo tower site

Grenville Street view of the development site, looking south on January 10 2011. The College Park office, condo and retail complex is just half a block to the south.

 

Intersection of Yonge Street and College Street Toronto

The proposed 52-storey condo building would tower above the northwest corner of Yonge and College Streets, seen here March 12 2011. The beige building at the left is The Gallery, a 27-storey apartment highrise at 25 Grenville Street.

 

Will Grenville Street grow up? What is now a side street parking lot near police headquarters could become the second-highest building in the Yonge & College area if Lifetime Developments gets City approval for its latest condo tower development proposal.

Lifetime wants to construct a 52-storey condo on the south side of Grenville Street, just a stone’s throw west of Yonge Street. The development is planned for properties at 9 – 21 Grenville Street, currently occupied by a parking lot and a three-storey brick heritage house.

Lifetime’s tower would rise 167 meters to the top of its penthouse-level mechanical facility, and would have 438 residential units in bachelor, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom configurations. Part of the heritage building would be incorporated into the condo complex and would hold 120 square meters of retail space. There would be five levels of underground parking for vehicles and bicycles.

The condo would rise in a prime downtown location less than a block from the Carlton streetcar route and the College station on the Yonge subway line. At 167 meters, it would become the neighbourhood’s second-tallest tower (the 75-storey Aura condo, currently under construction just one block to the south at College Park, will stand 264 meters).

9 Grenville’s height, which is more than 3.5 times as tall as city zoning presently allows for the area, is just one element of the proposal with which municipal planning officials and neighbourhood groups take issue. A background file prepared for the Toronto and East York Community Council lists 15 different concerns with the proposal, including height, density, parking, heritage and traffic impacts, mix of unit sizes and the building’s relation to the streetscape.

Meanwhile, the neighbourhood’s Bay Cloverhill Community Association identified numerous practical issues that it planned to raise at a community consultation meeting last month.

Below are building elevation and site plan drawings that had been submitted to the City planning department, along with recent photos I’ve taken of the proposed tower site and surrounding area.

 

9 Grenville Street condo development proposal

Condo tower development proposal sign posted at 9 Grenville Street

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development proposal

North and east elevation drawings for the proposed condo tower

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development proposal

Site plan drawing for proposed 9 Grenville Street condo tower

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

Grenville Street view of the proposed tower site on November 15 2010

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

Grenville Street southeast view of the site on November 15 2010

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

The eastern half of the site, seen here on January 10 2011. The historic College Park building is visible on College Street just half a block south.

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

A January 10 2011 view of the heritage building at 21 Grenville St.

 

The heritage house at 21 Grenville Street

The designated heritage building at 21 Grenville Street,  the John Irwin House, was built in 1873. The front half would be kept as part of the condo complex.

 

9 - 21 Grenville Street condo tower development site

The development site viewed from the north side of Grenville St.

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

The parking lot where the tower would rise, seen here on January 10 2011

 

Wood Street view west toward Yonge Street

Wood Street westerly view toward the proposed condo site on March 12 2011. The 52-storey tower would rise directly in front of the beige apartment building, which has no windows on either its east or left walls.

 

Yonge Street view west down Grenville Street

Yonge Street view down Grenville Street on March 12 2011. From left are an office tower at College Park, a two-storey office building with an RBC bank branch, The Gallery apartment building, the 45-storey Murano South condo tower, the 16- storey Peregrine Co-Op apartments, and the 21-storey George Drew Building (the Ontario Coroner’s headquarters on Grosvenor Street).

 

Yonge Street view west toward Grenville Street

Another view from Yonge Street toward the proposed development site

 

Grenville Street looking west from Yonge Street

Looking west from the corner of Yonge and Grenville Streets

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

The 9 Grenville site viewed from the corner of Grenville Street and St Luke Laneway on March 12 2011

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

St Luke Laneway view of the proposed condo tower site, looking northwest

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

St Luke Laneway view of the site, looking to the west

 

21 Grenville Street heritage building

The three-storey half of the heritage building would be incorporated into the condo development, but the rear half would be demolished.

 

9 Grenville Street condo tower development site

Northeast view from the back corner of the parking lot at 9 Grenville.

 

The Peregrine Co-Op apartment building

The Peregrine Co-Op apartment building on the north side of Grenville St.

 

Historic Addison on Bay building reconstruction partially revealed at Burano condo site

Addison on Bay at Burano Condos

Part of the reconstructed Addison on Bay building was revealed this week when protective wrapping was removed from the facade on Grenville St.


Addison on Bay Burano Condos

This is how the building looked in September 2008 when it was being dismantled to make way for construction of the Burano condo complex


Addison on Bay Burano Condos

This artistic rendering from the Burano Condos website suggests how the reconstructed building will appear as part of the new condo complex



Addison’s back on Bay! The Addison on Bay Cadillac dealership closed four years ago, and the historic Addison building itself completely disappeared from the landscape during late 2008 and early 2009. But the building is right back where it had operated as a car dealership since 1925 — only now it’s going to have an entirely new life and function as part of the Burano luxury condo complex currently under construction.

The Addison showroom at 832 Bay Street was designated a historical property by the City in 1999. The dealership continued in business for another eight years after that, but finally shuttered its doors in the middle of March 2007. Despite its prominent, lengthy history downtown, the dealership was forced to close the Bay Street business because of “economic factors, including the increasing cost of maintaining a central downtown location,” dealership president Clarke Addison explained in a letter to customers. (Further details about the Addison site and the demise of the downtown dealership were reported in a Toronto Star story published on March 2, 2007.)

Though the downtown location ceased operations, the Addison car business continued — in Mississauga where, as Addison Chevrolet, it’s that city’s “youngest General Motors dealership.”

But the Bay Street property wouldn’t sit idle for long.

Addison had been operating not just the historically-designated showroom and a repair garage  on the west side of Bay, between Grosvenor and Grenville Streets, but also a new and used car display lot on the east side of the street, also between Grosvenor and Grenville.

Lanterra Developments ultimately acquired the properties on both sides of Bay, and built the two-tower Murano condo complex on the east side. Since the summer of 2008, it has been building Burano on the west property. During the fall and winter of that year, the Addison showroom was dismantled so the site could be excavated for the condo tower. Once the foundation for the new complex had been built, reconstruction of the Addison building commenced.

Protective sheeting has blocked the facade from public view for the past three months, but a section of wrapping was removed from the Grenville Street wall of the structure late last week.

Below are some pics I took while the Addison building was being dismantled and then re-assembled. There’s also some pics of the newly revealed Addison facade on Grenville Street, along with other recent photos showing construction progress on the Burano condo tower. An album of Burano pics from the beginning of construction to this month can be viewed on the Photo Sets page of the blog.

 

Addison on Bay Burano Condos

October 13 2008: The Addison on Bay building gradually being dismantled


Addison on Bay Burano Condos

November 22 2009: Foundation work begins in the Burano condo excavation


Addison on Bay Burano Condos

May 2 2010: Addison building takes shape during reconstruction


Addison on Bay Burano Condos

May 2 2010: Another view of the Addison building reconstruction progress


Addison on Bay Burano Condos

July 26 2010: Grenville St. view of frame for new Addison building


Addison on Bay Burano Condos

November 9 2010: Rebuilding progress before the structure went under wraps


Addison on Bay Burano Condos

December 21 2010:  Frame of building partly visible  under wraps


Burano condos

February 9 2011: Murano tower, crane seen from College St. at University Ave.


Burano Condos

February 9 2011: Burano viewed from Grosvenor Street near Surrey Place


Burano Condos

February 20 2011: Burano construction progress viewed from College Street


Burano condos

February 20 2011: Burano viewed from southeast corner of Bay and Grenville


Burano Condos

February 20 2011: The unwrapped Grenville Street facade viewed from Bay Street


Burano condos

February 20 2011: Reconstructed Grenville Street facade is exposed


Addison on Bay Burano Condos

Another view of the reconstructed Addison facade on Grenville



Falling glass balcony panels a “pane” in the neck for Murano condo owners, Bay Street pedestrians

Murano condo towers under construction September 20 2008


Heads up! You don’t usually see scaffolding erected around a brand-new condominium tower to protect passing pedestrians after construction has finished and the building is fully occupied. But then, you don’t usually expect glass panels to shatter and fall off the balconies of new buildings, either. Yet that’s what seems to have happened four separate times in the past year at the Murano condos on Bay Street.

Designed by architectsAlliance of Toronto, Murano is a complex of two glass highrise buildings that opened in 2009: a 35-floor North Tower on Grosvenor Street and a 45-storey South Tower on Grenville Street, both linked by a two-storey podium extending along Bay Street.

According to posts in an online Toronto architecture and building forum, a glass panel broke loose from a balcony in early April of last year. It plunged to the ground, in the process shattering several other glass panels that create a canopy above Bay Street to protect pedestrians from rain and the elements. The sidewalk around the damaged panels was cordoned off with yellow safety warning tape while repairs were performed.

A similar incident occurred in September, when a tempered glass panel shattered and fell from an upper-level balcony on the Grenville Street side of the North Tower. Several days later, glass from another panel shattered and showered to the ground from a different North Tower balcony, also on the Grenville Street side. That incident made headlines in local papers; for example, the Toronto Star reported on glass falling from the Murano tower in a story on September 18.  

The broken panels were replaced with sheets of wood while new panels were ordered; meanwhile, condo management called engineers in to try to determine what had caused the panels to break.

In early December, I noticed that the wood sheets were gone and the missing glass panels had finally been replaced; however, around December 21, another balcony panel shattered. Again, it was on a North Tower balcony, but this time on the south side. Scaffolding has protected sidewalks around the condo complex ever since, and up until the end of last week a piece of wood was still visible on the balcony in question. When I passed by this morning, however, the wood was gone and a new glass panel was in place; in fact, I could see a contractor working on the balcony, so he may have just finished the installation. On the other hand, the glass overhang above street level was still missing three panels. 

The problem must be a source of embarrassment and frustration for the building’s developer, Lanterra Developments, which operates a customer service centre for its various condominium projects in a street-level office in the Murano podium along Bay Street (now partially obscured by the scaffolding).

But shattered glass hasn’t been the only thing dropping from the Murano towers. In a gruesome accident in May 2008, falling metal debris killed a 55-year-old construction worker while the complex was being built; details are provided in this Toronto Star story. And on March 15 last year, a man jumped to his death from a unit on the east side of the building. Could ghosts of the two deceased be responsible for the falling glass? Or is it merely a case of balcony panel defects or improper installation techniques?

It will be interesting to see how long the scaffolding remains in place; it really detracts from the streetscape and spoils views of the podium. Fortunately, it doesn’t block the colourful decorated glass windows (created by Toronto photographer Barbara Astman) on the podium’s second floor.

 

Missing glass panel on south side of North Tower December 21 2010


Closer view of the replacement wood panel on North Tower balcony


January 18 2011: New glass panel freshly installed


January 18 2011: Overhang above the sidewalk is still missing panels


Scaffolding on Bay Street sidewalk below Murano condo towers December 21 2010


Wood panel on a Murano North Tower balcony September 19 2010


Wood panel on another Murano North Tower balcony September 19 2010


Scaffolding on sidewalks around the Murano towers January 5 2011


Scaffolding on sidewalks around the Murano towers January 5 2011


Scaffolding on sidewalks around the Murano towers January 5 2011