On Jarvis Street just south of Bloor, Great Gulf Homes and Lifetime Developments' X2 Condominiums is getting close to topping off, just next door to its somewhat shorter sibling to the north, X Condos. The 49-storey, Wallman Architects-designed condominium tower has made a great deal of progress since we last looked at it, so we decided to head up to the top for a look at the views from the current top of the tower on the 46th floor.

X2 (left) next to X Condos (right), image by Jack Landau

First, time to head up in the hoist. Following the non-stop ride up Aura last week, this time our film is more about the stop-start-stop-start (while still being edited at a reasonable clip) that often happens as one lurches higher and higher on the outsides of these buildings.

Up top, crews are busy preparing rebar and formwork for the concrete walls on level 46. In the image below, we can see forms for concrete walls in place on the southeast side of X2's 46th floor, while a pair of the rebar cages are guided into place by workers, while still attached to the crane (notice the chains hanging at the top of the photos).

Rebar cages being guided by crane across X2's 46th floor, image by Jack Landau

Rebar cages being guided by crane across X2's 46th floor, image by Jack Landau

Forms are also being positioned on the west side of the 46th floor, soon to be filled in with concrete. In the image below, we can see a worker tightening bolts on a large upright forming at the western side of the building.

Wall form being tightened on X2's 46th floor, image by Jack Landau

Workers assemble wall forms for X2's 46th floor, image by Craig White

Rebar is set in place in a wall form for X2's 46th floor, image by Craig White

Panels are fastened together to create wall forms on X2's 46th floor, image by Craig White

Meanwhile, besides all of the work going on to complete another floor (the top floor will be the 49th, followed by three levels of mechanical penthouse), from here we can see all around Toronto of course, and well into the surrounding suburbs even with the clouds. As always, it's hard not to check out the dramatic view of the downtown core to the south first.

Looking to the south from X2's 46th floor, image by Jack Landau

Zooming in, we have a view down into the Church-Wellesley Village. Most of us will recognize the large white domed roof in the centre of the image as Maple Leaf Gardens, the former home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the current home of Loblaws' flagship grocery store and the Ryerson Rams hockey team.

Looking to the south from X2's 46th floor, image by Jack Landau

To the east, at the bottom of the photo we can see the spire of the Rogers Building at 1 Ted Rogers Way (formerly 777 Jarvis), while Tridel's black James Cooper Mansion dominates the middle of the image. Its neighbours are the high-rise rental apartment towers of St. James Town, with the trees of Rosedale and the Don Valley, East Toronto, East York, and Scarborough beyond.

Looking to the east from X2's 46th floor, image by Jack Landau

Zooming in a bit further, we can see the eastern edge of the Prince Edward Viaduct feeding out onto The Danforth's vibrant strip, running like a zipper through the treed neighbourhoods to either side.

Looking to the east from X2's 46th floor, image by Craig White

To the west, the growing Bloor-Yorkville cluster is getting much denser with the addition of several high rise condominiums, and many more construction sites dotting the skyline.

Looking to the west from X2's 46th floor, image by Jack Landau

Further west, the distant Humber Bay skyline in Etobicoke can be seen through the haze, hugging the lake.

Looking to the west from X2's 46th floor, image by Craig White

To the north, we can see the roofs of the completed X Condos and Couture Condos in the foreground, while the midtown and North York skylines can be seen off in the distance.

Looking to the north from X2's 46th floor, image by Jack Landau

We will return to X2 next week for a look inside the building, including how some of the suites and amenity areas are coming along. In the meantime, additional information and renderings can be found in our dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.