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It is just shy of two months since we last checked in on the construction progress of Bazis, Metropia, and RioCan's E Condos, though over the past few weeks, the Rosario Varacalli-designed project's 58-storey condominium tower and 38-storey rental tower have made significant progress in Toronto's Yonge and Eglinton neighbourhood.
At the start of April, the taller condo tower stood 14 storeys at the northeast corner of Yonge and Eglinton, with the rental tower at a height of six storeys to the north on Roehampton Avenue. Since then, the speed of the condo tower's forming has increased considerably, with 22nd level now underway. This quicker pace of work can be attributed to the repetitive nature of each floor, allowing crews to develop a rhythm in their work cycles, unlike the one-off nature of forming the unique podium levels below.
As the condo tower's cladding climbs higher—a window wall system with white back-painted glass spandrel panels and black floor-to ceiling aluminum frames—the first elements of the balcony cladding have now been added as well. We've been curious about how the balconies would look ever since seeing the renderings of the building, with its uniquely pixelated black-and-white appearance. Now we're getting an idea of how that will be accomplished.
The first pieces have recently been mounted on the tower's slab edges overlooking Eglinton Avenue. Coming in the form of perforated dark aluminum screens with varying hole sizes, this cladding will alternately stretch from the floors to ceilings of the balconies, while other pieces will only go to waist height. Two gaps in the balcony screen below hints at glass guards to be installed there. The end effect will create a mottled translucent outer screen for the building which from a distance will mark the building as a unique presence on the local skyline, but which will allow light penetration and views outward for residents.
E Condos' condo tower is continuing its ascent to a final height of 196 metres over the next several months. At that height, the tower will hold a dominant position on the Midtown Toronto skyline, and will be the tallest structure in the city north of the Yorkville neighbourhood, though a proposal from 1 Eglinton East across the street may take that title some day.
One block to the north on Roehampton Avenue, and set behind a row of Yonge Street storefronts (not part of the redevelopment), the project's rental tower's west podium volume is now fully formed, and work has since begun on the first of the tower floors above.
Additional information and renderings can be found in our dataBase file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment using the space provided at the bottom of this page.
