We have been keeping a close eye on the construction of Great Gulf HomesOne Bloor East and so have many of our Forum contributors. It is hard not to keep an eye on this project for some, and every month the development reappears on our list of top Forum threads and dataBase pages as readers drool over this growing architectural statement rising from the southeast corner of Yonge and Bloor.

In the recent photo below by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Benito who has a bird's eye view of the construction from his suite in the Uptown condominium, we can see that crews have reached the 24th level of the 75-storey, Hariri Pontarini-designed condominium tower, a 9-storey jump since the progress update we posted on July 17th. This means that the tower has continued to rise at a rate of one floor per week.

Aerial view of One Bloor East, image by Forum contributor Benito

The striking curves of the building's floor plates have been further emphasized by the latest additions of reflective curtain-wall glazing, with distinctive rounded corners covering the podium and tower's undulating waves. In the image below by UT Forum contributor androikuk, we can also make out the beginnings of a dropped soffit attached to the underside of the podium's uppermost terrace. Its extra deep and opaque glazing hides a thicker slab which will provide earth-filled trenches for terrace gardens.

Glazing slowly taking over the exterior of One Bloor East, image by Forum contributor androiduk

Many UrbanToronto readers have been wondering how the crews at Tucker HiRise Construction have been achieving the complicated task of forming and pouring the building's intricate yet flawless curved edges, and Forum contributor and contractor danwaring came to the rescue with not just an answer, but a photo of one of these forms as well. Here is danwaring's own description of the process;

They make a curved plywood bulkhead by "kerfing" the plywood and attaching it to a prefabricated steel form with metal screws. This is used for each floor and they just shift this closer and further to the corners of the building based on the slab edge drawing. Build once and reuse."

Curved form used to shape One Bloor's distinctive curves, image by Forum contributor danwaring

Thanks to our great contributors, we will continue to document the growth of this impressive development. In the meantime, additional information and renderings can be found in our One Bloor East dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave your comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.

Related Companies:  Baker Real Estate Incorporated, Bass Installation, Cecconi Simone, DesignAgency, First Capital, Great Gulf, Hariri Pontarini Architects, Isotherm Engineering Ltd., Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, Janet Rosenberg & Studio, Kramer Design Associates Limited, L.A. Inc., Rebar Enterprises Inc, TUCKER HIRISE Construction