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There is no building in Toronto that gets more attention on UrbanToronto.ca than Talon International's Trump International Hotel and Tower. While the architecture is not every UrbanToronto reader's cup of tea (no building has everyone on board), the amount of curiosity concerning this building has driven our Trump Projects and Construction thread to a record post count; 6,346 posts at last check. That's a lot of curiosity.
We won't be able to satisfy every question about the building with this story, but we can start to fill in some of the gaps today with the first photo report from our trip into the construction site yesterday. Today's report begins at ground level and rises a third of the way up the tower, covering the hotel portion, and our main focus will be on one of the more hotly debated questions on UrbanToronto, namely what the views will be like.
As the Trump building itself has added the lynchpin to the densest concentration of skyscrapers in the country, the question in many readers' minds has been whether the views from this building would be any good: "aren't they all blocked?"
The answer to that question will depend on what you feel a view is. Should having a view mean that you can see an uninterrupted horizon for miles around? People who answer yes to that will not consider what the Trump has as a view. Even some who understand that urban views are more complex, still don't imagine that the Trump could have views owing to the close proximity of other buildings around it. What a trip up the building bears out, however, is that Trump has a multitude of view experiences, possibly the most exciting set of them in Canada.
Over the next couple of days we hope to help you decide if that statement is true for you or not. Let's go into the building.
These first images are a quick reminder that the Trump is still very much a construction site. While a fashion show a month ago was an early event in the hotel, even the room it was held in is still being worked on. The Trump, like all hotels and every condo being built in this city, is behind its original schedule, and it will not open until November 1st at this point. The first condominiums are currently scheduled for Spring 2012 occupancies.
The lobby too is still a work in progress, although to the left of the image below, the elevator lobby and a gorgeous marble wall are finished... but stinkers that we are, we're going to make you wait a bit longer to see them!
We are now 9 floors up, above the parking garage and the hotel's administrative offices. This is one of two floors containing ballrooms and meeting rooms. This hallway runs the length of the ballroom, which can be subdivided in three when need be. Mouldings and wainscotting add warmth.
Construction workers install finishing elements to the divider system.
This stairway connects 9th and 10th floor function areas. Renderings of the completed stair can be found on our dataBase page for Trump. (See the link at the bottom of this article.)
Another three floors up we venture into a hotel room, furniture moved in, with finishing touches still to come. This 12th floor room is at the northwest corner of the building… and you will soon get some of those promised views from here…
… or from the bathroom to start off with. Beyond the free-standing tub is a gorgeous view of the Canada Permanent building across Bay Street. Depending on who is using the tub on any given day in the future, and how they decide to employ the drapes, still to come, the reverse view may be equally impressive from the Canada Permanent.
From the room itself, we can finally show you that the views here are quite spectacular. Looking from southwest at left, to the west down Adelaide Street at right, this stitched panorama gives you an idea of the variety right outside the windows. Two things to keep in mind at this point: 1) these shots are through unwashed windows, which obviously is more of a concern in certain parts of the photos, like at left below, and 2) you can click on any of our images to get a much larger view.
Speaking of a larger view, let's enjoy some higher-res detail to the west.
Just down the corridor we find a room where not only the bed linens await their first customer, but a Trump monogrammed bathrobe is laid out as well. II By IV Associates are the designers of the hotel room interiors.
This room's bathroom shows off the extensive use of marble in the building. Many bathrooms have flatscreens built into the mirrors, and others viewable from the bathtubs.
We can't pass by without giving you another look at the stunning Canada Permanent.
Views from the south side rooms are very, sculpturally, bulding-block urban. The Bay-Wellington Tower makes an appearance between Scotia Plaza on the left and the original Bank of Nova Scotia tower on the right. Already a symphony of grays, browns, and blues, we can only imagine how cool this view will be when office lights glow in the low light of dusk.
From the 12th we ride the elevator to the 24th floor, and take in three west views. Canada Permanent: we cannot get enough of you.
Looking straight out from here though, our west view across rooftops and down Adelaide is pretty entrancing.
In the distance we can see the towers of the burgeoning Etobicoke waterfront and beyond to our favourite misty hulks at Square One. How many places in the world do you get to see one amazing distant new skyline from an increasingly amazing central one?
We are only getting started here, but that's all you get for today. Tomorrow we go higher, and we take in 360 degrees of view. We hope you have enjoyed the appetizer.
| Related Companies: | Bass Installation, Eastern Construction, II BY IV DESIGN, Multiplex, Rad Marketing, Zeidler Architecture |
