Construction is progressing at the site of Metropia, Bazis, and Plaza's Exhibit Residences, a 32-storey Rosario Varacalli-designed condo tower currently rising on Bloor Street, just west of Avenue Road, and across the street from the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). When we last looked at the project's progression several weeks ago, work was under way on the second floor of the building's complicated eight-storey podium, and in the time since, concrete has risen three more levels up to the fifth floor.

Facing east on Bloor Street. Exhibit visible on the left and a sliver of the ROM is visible on the right, image by Jack Landau

The back of Exhibit's podium will include above ground parking for the development, as the subway runs just below ground here, preventing an underground garage from going in. Residents of the first eight floors will realize a benefit of the parking being above ground here, as they will be able to access their same-level parking spot without having to use stairs or an elevator.

Exhibit Residences viewed from the south side of Bloor Street, image by Jack Landau

In the image above, we can see a small rectangular area of white on the left hand side of the building. That is where cladding tests are now under way on Exhibit. Being tested are two different patterns of fritted glass balcony panels as well as different types of window wall cladding in behind.

Test cladding at Exhibit Residences, image by Jack Landau

A closer look at the balcony panels reveals two patterns featuring repeating circles, one using larger circles that are offset half between the circles of the rows above and below, and one using smaller circles where the circles line up straight, row upon row. The small circle pattern has less surface area covered in frit, which allows more light to pass through, and giving a softer tone of white. The large circular pattern covers more of the surface area, allowing less light to pass through and giving a bolder shade of white. The zoomed-out shot above shows the overall whiteness better, while the close-up below shows the pattern details better.

Test samples of balcony cladding at Exhibit Residences, image by Jack Landau

While whichever balcony glazing is eventually chosen will literally set the tone for the building's overall look, in behind that test you can see in the image below—taken a day earlier—that a number of window panels are also being tested before a final design is chosen for them. Will the final design have white frames? Black ones? Maybe silver? We should know in the near future!

Test samples of window wall cladding at Exhibit Residences, image by UT Forum contributor urbandreamer

Returning to the general construction progress at Exhibit since our last visit, we move to the immediate northwest of the construction site. This angle gives us a good view of the rear portion of the property, where the building pretty much rises to the lot lines. It will continue to do so for the rest of the first 8 storeys before stepping back significantly to the south for the smaller tower floor plate.

Exhibit Residences viewed from the adjacent parking lot to the northwest, image by Jack Landau

Additional information and renderings of a complete Exhibit Residences can be found in our dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out Exhibit's associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the section provided at the bottom of this page.

Related Companies:  Baker Real Estate Incorporated, Isotherm Engineering Ltd., Metropia, NAK Design Group, Plaza, Ryan Design International