Mississauga Absolute World | 169.77m | 56s | Cityzen | MAD architects

Photos of Tower E from Tower D:


AbWorldTowerEHigh.jpg


AbWorldTowerEAbove.jpg


AbWorldTowerESide.jpg


AbsoluteTowerEpano.jpg



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Hey welcome Jasonzed! We have enjoyed your pictures for a long time on here, thanks to others re-posting your work from other threads. Now we can get them directly from you.

I love your ALL-ACCESS PASS style photos. You seem to get them from the best locations. I've decided that you are a window washer by day and you bring your camera to work all the time. LOL

Always enjoy your great photos!
 
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Time to explain what you have been seeing on the undersides of several balconies.

AbWorldThermBulk6.jpg



While they would be unnecessary on just about any other tower, there is a simple explanation here: you are looking at thermal bulkheads. Sergio drew us a quick sketch to explain why they are necessary.

On every floor the outside walls rotate with the edge of the floorplate, so there are places where they do not line up directly above and below each other. In those places insulation must be applied to keep winter cold out. In the two diagrams you will see where insulation may need to be applied to the ceiling of an apartment where the area above is exposed, and to the underside of the balcony where the space above is heated.

AbWorldThermBulk1.jpg



A thermal bulkhead in a unit:

AbWorldThermBulk2.jpg



A thermal bulkhead being constructed on the exterior, to compensate for the rotation:

AbWorldThermBulk3.jpg


AbWorldThermBulk4.jpg


AbWorldThermBulk5.jpg



The same as seen from below:

AbWorldThermBulk7.jpg



And more advanced in construction:

AbWorldThermBulk8.jpg



A finished look for the bulkhead and balcony undersides is tested:

AbWorldThermBulk9.jpg



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The explanation makes sense, but I think they are doing more than just following the floor above. If you look more closely, you can see that the distance from the edge of the bulkhead to the edge of the balcony is consistent on all balconies. We know this wouldn't be the case because of the twisting floor plates, so they are using a more aesthetically acceptable shape and over-building the ones visible from below. They would look gawdawful from below if they were made to follow the curtain wall of the floor above.
 
^^ That's a nifty solution to the problem but what an added expense! What I don't understand is, if they can do all this extra work because of the shifting floor plates and still make the Condos affordable, then how come in an ordinary building they can't add Gargoyles or Art Deco ornamentation and still remain affordable?

The added cost of engineering, materials and labour to build this tower should be enough to make the average square glass condo in Toronto able to be covered in high-end Granite and Curtain wall. So what gives?

Oh yeah... Hey 42... Did you find out what the hold up is with the balcony glass?
 
Traynor said:
^^ That's a nifty solution to the problem but what an added expense! What I don't understand is, if they can do all this extra work because of the shifting floor plates and still make the Condos affordable, then how come in an ordinary building they can't add Gargoyles or Art Deco ornamentation and still remain affordable?

The added cost of engineering, materials and labour to build this tower should be enough to make the average square glass condo in Toronto able to be covered in high-end Granite and Curtain wall. So what gives?
Click to expand...

^ Traynor, every project is very different in terms of budgeting, but the Absolute World towers opened at about $100psf higher than anything else in MCC which is really what is the comparable product rather then anything in Toronto given very different dynamics in terms of approval process, DCs, land dedications and then a very large component (land) which is far far cheaper in Mississauga than anything in the downtown Toronto core. Also keep in mind that the hard construction costs are only about 50% of total project costs and when you divide out the labour component (about half the hard construction costs) - the unionized trades at Absolute World would be essentially making the same wages as those at other condo sites across the GTA depending on some contract specifics.
 
I would suspect that any premiums (if any) obtained in revenue disappeared in the increased forming costs. (I question the "$100/SF" premium figure; according to Urbanation they opened at $370/SF and averaged $389/SF for 96% of the building). The numbers don't make sense for this project given the complexity of construction.

The thermal bulkheads are an awkward solution to a self-inflicted "problem", particularly on the interior where the purchaser now has a drop ceiling at the window.
 
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Traynor said:
Oh yeah... Hey 42... Did you find out what the hold up is with the balcony glass?
Click to expand...

They had been taking a while to sort out exactly what they want there, and we weren't told why exactly, but one could speculate that they wanted to be able to affix various examples in a relatively complete section of the building to see what various options would look like exactly. There are, in fact, some balcony panels affixed on a floor that we visited, but only rejects.

A little more patience will be required!

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At the time Absolute World opened most other MCC projects were in the very high $200s or low $300s and for the last year or so remaining inventory at Absolute World has been in the $430 range... anyway the point being that construction costs as noted would be somewhat higher and that Fernbrook/Cityzen did charge a premium for the product (I can't remember, nor do I have numbers for the other three buildings, but there were certainly quite a bit lower than the final two buildings). But I agree that the numbers don't make a whole lot of sense given the risk involved.
 
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