The ongoing condominium boom continues to reshape our city's skyline, and one of the most prominent additions to the classic skyline view from the Toronto Islands is Ïce Condos by Lanterra Developments. Designed by architectsAlliance, Ïce's slender 57 and 67-storey towers are making quite an impact from various points around the city, but few of these vantage points give us a good look at the work under way on the top of the towers. Forum contributor 'canadan' recently took a trip up the CN Tower, and shared some amazing shots of the 'swiss-cheese' roofs atop each tower.

Swiss cheese roof forming on Ïce's taller east tower, image by canadan


In the image above, the completed slice of swiss cheese atop the 57-storey west tower contrasts with the similar slice still taking shape atop the east tower. That instantly recognizable slice is actually a slab of concrete supported on angled steel supports and punctuated by circular skylight cutouts. In the image below, we take a closer look at how the roof is constructed.

Swiss cheese roof forming on Ïce's taller east tower, image by canadan

In the image above, we can see plywood formwork for the concrete roof feature, with the future holes currently storing materials and a Johnny-on-the-spot. Twisted a bit like the unfastened lid of a jar, the roof feature's concrete slab will cantilever out over the edges of the building in certain places, which can only be accomplished with the use of the cantilevered work platform and concrete forms can be seen underneath it. Below, a close-up of the west tower's top shows that there are still construction materials being stored on the building's roof, away final installation.

Swiss cheese roof appropriately aged on Ïce's shorter west tower, image by canadan

Two different images taken from the Toronto Island Ferry over the last several days reveal how the pair of Ïce towers are adding to the core's skyline. In the first shot taken from further south and somewhat west, the taller tower appears taller than Canada's actual tallest building, the Bank of Montreal Tower at First Canadian Place. Ïce East will actually be the city's seventh tallest tower at completion. 

Ïce Condos viewed from the Toronto Island Ferry, image by Dumitru Onceanu

Taken directly from the south, and closer to shore, the skyscrapers of Toronto's financial core are hidden by the buildings of the Harbourfront area. Here the two Ïce towers are now king and queen of the waterfront realm, just waiting to get those crowns finished.

Ïce Condos viewed from the Toronto Island Ferry, image by Jimmy Wu

Once the twin tower development is finished, 1,245 new condominium units will have been added to Toronto's developing Southcore area, putting many new residents within walking distance of downtown jobs, shops, restaurants, and entertainment.

Additional information and renderings on Ïce 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.

Related Companies:  architects—Alliance, Isotherm Engineering Ltd., Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, LiveRoof Ontario Inc, LRI Engineering Inc., Milborne Group, NAK Design Strategies, Rebar Enterprises Inc