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A street level atmosphere is really taking shape in the growing vertical neighbourhood that is Concord CityPlace. The latest shot-in-the-arm is the just-opened ‘Hunter’s Landing’ restaurant and its massive patio overlooking Canoe Landing Park, which has added bustle and vibrancy into the ground realm around the newly built Parade condos that it's attached to. While the new hotspot is sure to become a neighbourhood landmark, the multi-part Parade condominium development, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and Page + Steele/IBI Group, is already a city-wide landmark for its two-storey Skybridge, linking the project’s two tallest towers.
30 storeys up in the air, the Skybridge is 23 feet tall and stretches 130 feet in length, the same length as a Boeing 737 commercial jet. The bridge’s upper floor is occupied by two residential suites; a 4,200 square foot suite accessed from the west tower, and a 3,600 square foot suite accessed from the east tower. Though only two purchasers will have the privilege of enjoying the bridge’s panoramic views around the clock, all residents of Parade and Parade2 now have access to the Skybridge’s newly opened lower level amenity space, the SkyLounge.
To celebrate the opening of the SkyLounge, Concord Adex hosted a party this past Thursday to show off the unique amenity space in the sky. A number of executives integral to the project were on hand, including Concord’s Vice President of Development Gabriel Leung, Vice President and CFO Dennis Au-Yeung, and Vice President of Construction Arash Beheshti.
Local Member of Parliament Olivia Chow was also on hand to mark the occasion, and you can get a taste of the festivities in the video below from inkblot media.
The SkyLounge's spacious facilities include pool tables, a bar, and lots of seating. The SkyLounge can go modular too, with glass walls which open like louvers to create multiple rooms or hallways.
Tower-to-tower windows looking north and south provide dramatic vistas of both the bustling city and the more serene islands and lake.
Peaceful panoramas aren’t for everyone though, and with five glass 'portholes' in the floor similar to the famous CN Tower glass floor, the SkyLounge amenity facilities also have something to offer for those with a taste for adrenaline.
The bridge itself takes a minimalist yet modern rectilinear form, punctuated by the diagonal steel trusses which carry the structure’s load. This structural element is highly visible from street level and other exterior vantage points, but its contribution to the interior space’s aesthetic was something we hadn’t experienced firsthand until last week.
The process of raising the bridge into place in the summer of 2012 was no easy task, requiring some real ingenuity from the engineering and construction teams. A strand jack system, which operates using cables and hydraulic linear winches, was employed to lift the 328-tonne bridge up to its final position, where it connects Parade’s two towers about 30 storeys up. The delicate task took a total of 14 hours, and to document the complicated operation, inkblot media released this nearly 7-minute mini-documentary earlier this summer, which includes plenty of background information and interviews. Check it out below!
For additional information including building facts and pre-construction renderings, check out our dataBase file on Parade, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or voice your opinion in the comments section provided at the bottom of this page.
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