We recently attended a tour of the east tower at Brookfield Properties' Bay Adelaide Centre, held by the Council on Tall Buildings an Urban Habitat (CTBUH). In the first part of our tour, we took a look at the interiors and cladding process of the tower portion, and in today's instalment, we return for a look at the building's podium and heritage components.

Podium of the Bay Adelaide Centre's east tower, image by Jack Landau

Designed by KPMB Architects and Adamson Associates Architects, with heritage work by ERA Architects, Bay Adelaide East features a five-storey podium fronting on to Yonge Street to the east and Adelaide to the south. The podium incorporates two façades of a four-storey stone and brick structure built in 1850, which have been moved to the north and applied to the former 'Addition Elle' building at Yonge and Temperance Streets. This portion of the podium will host a restaurant at street level, while up above it houses the mechanical facilities for the new development. Up until recently, we had only seen the 'front' sides of this element.

Podium of the Bay Adelaide Centre's east tower, image by Jack Landau

From the third floor of Bay Adelaide East's podium, the rear of the mechanical portion is visible as well as some of the machinery inside. Currently in a raw state, there is no mistaking from this side what the heritage façades are hiding. When complete, the this concrete block wall will also be hidden behind a more attractive skin.

Rear of the former 'Addition Elle' building, which now houses mechanical equipment, image by Jack Landau

In the image below, we take a closer look through one of the mechanical building's windows, where the development's HVAC system is situated.

Mechanical equipment in the podium of Bay Adelaide East, image by Jack Landau

South and west of the heritage component, the steel-framed five-storey podium is now topped off and being fitted with exterior glazing. The interior of this podium features a large atrium which will serve as a grand entrance to the building.

Podium atrium at Bay Adelaide East, image by Jack Landau

The atrium spans from the ground floor to the fifth and final podium level, and makes for quite the impressive space.

Podium atrium at Bay Adelaide East, image by Jack Landau

The podium levels at Bay Adelaide East are clad in the same curtain wall glazing as the tower portion, which allows views looking out onto Yonge Street, Adelaide Street, Temperance Street and Arnell Plaza. In the image below, we can see the view looking north at the Hudson's Bay property beyond the Cloud Gardens.

Glazing on the third floor of Bay Adelaide East, image by Jack Landau

The glazing itself features a slight blue tint but overall high transparency. In the image below, we can see that metal frames on the interior of the cladding are currently covered by a blue protective membrane, which will be removed near the end of the construction process.

Glazing on the third floor of Bay Adelaide East, image by Jack Landau

Glazing installation continues on the podium levels, with curtain wall glazing lined up in advance of being hoisted into position.

Glazing awaiting installation on the third floor of Bay Adelaide East, image by Bryan Bonnici

The Bay Adelaide East Tower will be the home to professional services firm Deloitte's Canadian head offices as well as full-service national law form Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. The 44-storey 980,000 square foot project is expected to open in mid-2015. 

Additional information about the Bay Adelaide Centre East can be found in our dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or add your voice in the comments section provided at the bottom of this page.