Toronto Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto | 207.86m | 53s | Graywood | Kohn Pedersen Fox

Okay I'm going to need a bit of help here :)

1) Mullion- Free, what exactly does that imply?
2) My take on the above was that it was seamless glass but I guess that's not quite it. From the pictures of Shangri-La Vancouver I thought that's what we might be getting (hopefully we for our Shangri-La project though).

Although your right this could very well be better.
 
A Mullion is a structural element that holds the glass in place. Curtain wall glass does not have this element. The glass is affixed directly to the building. (or it hangs off the building...like a curtain??)

Most of the condos in Toronto have mullions, the office towers and high end hotels will use curtain wall glass.

Telus, RBC & BA all used curtain wall glass.

Almost every condo being built right now uses Mullions. - The exception will be Aura (College Park 3) which will use curtain wall glass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtain_wall

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullion_wall

From here i'll leave it to whatever and 3D to explain.....
 
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I am pretty sure a mullion wall is a structural system and not what you are referring to. Condos in Toronto currently are using a curtain wall system, that happen to have mullions.

A curtain wall can be mullion-free or can use mullions, as far as I know.
 
I'm not quite sure what floor they're on, but it looks like they're working on the skylobby now, according to the webcam. Very high ceilings.
 
re: mullions

that is correct. The term curtain wall has nothing to do with whether there are mullions. It means that the exterior walls on each floor are hung, much like one would hang a curtain, from the floor plate above. This means that the wall is not structural, as in traditional masonry construction. The type of flush glazing you are referring usually relies on tensile fasteners, and so is more common in curtain wall applications. There are, however, flush systems that rely on other strategies, such as interior mullions with a flush exterior appearance, and systems that rely on monolithic panes of glass to assure structural stability.
 
Curtainwall hangs off the building, and basically forms a self-supporting shell around the structure. Window wall is similar but it sits on top of the floor slab and is generally much lighter duty (which is why it sits on the slab, because it isn't strong enough to be hung). There's only a couple condos in the city that use curtainwall, mostly high end stuff (Trump, Ritz, Four Seasons are all curtainwall). Everything else is window wall.

Curtainwall and window wall both have mullions. Always.

Mullion wall is entirely unrelated, and refers to buildings that have load bearing exterior walls (like the former WTC).

And for comparison's sake, the Ritz curtainwall is being supplied by the same company that supplied BA
 
So... to sum up with examples:

CURTAIN WALL = Bay-Adelaide Centre
WINDOW WALL = CASA

MULLION WALL = unrelated; structural exterior walls like NYC's old WTC
 
thanks guys

some of the skylobby work, perhaps?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26502106@N00/3223318218/sizes/o/
3223318218_04304724dd_o.jpg


from rmasc19 at www.flickr.com
 
The silver strips on the glass (dare I say "mullions") stick out a bit, which gives it a 3-D texture. Also, I love the grey strips, as opposed to baby-blue or something else.

To me, it looks quite different from BA Centre or RBC Dexia in its execution. I am actually suddenly really really excited to see Ritz rise. It is really something different for downtown Toronto's financial district. :)
 
the glass was never something that really excited when looking at the renderings. if you've you read my previous posts, i generally don't find the curtain wall immensely attractive as i feel glass takes on a plain and grey look once its actually applied. anyhow, it was always the height and form of this building that excited me. it is terrificly slender and that curve will be dynamic. some great triangular forms on this one.
 
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