Toronto First Canadian Place Rejuvenation | 298.08m | 72s | Brookfield | MdeAS Architects

[Red October]

Note that Junyer Trump didn't say *which* building it weathered well on;-) (And I presume that similar thin-sliced-tile marble technology was used on Aon as on FCP--again, it ain't the material, it's the manner of application.)

Ah, sneaky sneaky..

And yes, Aon used the exact same cladding as FCP pretty much. Actually, both buildings were designed with the exact same floorplan and design, Aon just used vertical windows instead of horizontal like FCP.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Yeah, the Parthenon, perhaps? Marble is a very problematic material to use as cladding - Aalto's Finlandia Hall also had major problems with panes of it actually bowing - and attempts to correct it failed. It's telling that they are wax poetic about the material and chose not use it in their Trump Tower.

AoD

 

[junctionist]

The marble on the back of New City Hall looks quite good to this day, though it's a decidely unconventional application.

 

[Mongo]

I don't think that the use of marble cladding per se is a problem, the problem was that the particular type of marble used on FCP (and Aon), while it was attractive when freshly cut, was also extremely porous and hence not suited for exterior use -- and in fact I recall reading years ago that the architect responsible (the same person for both buildings) was specifically warned that that particular marble would degrade very quickly, but ignored the warnings.

 

[adma]

Well, not just that particular marble: that particular application of marble--in thinly sliced sheets (made possible through state-of-the-art cutting technology) attached to the facade as panelling. (And the thinner they are, the quicker the degradation, I suspect.)

110 Yonge is almost a decade older; and its marble, by comparison, has survived much better. (And why not; it isn't just thin panelling a la FCP.)

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

He fell or jumped from the 37th floor.

I don't want to re-start a discussion on this unfortunate topic again but to clarify, this fellow only made it to about the 9th floor. I was up for Thanksgiving dinner with my family today and my brother told me about it. He was working at FCP that week (he installs fibre optic cabling), heard about what happened and a bunch of them came down to see what was going on. They got the details later right from FCP security. He also worked at Bay-Adelaide Centre for about 10 months and a few other office buildings downtown, now at 18 York which he says is the best, most advanced building he's worked in.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

IHe also worked at Bay-Adelaide Centre for about 10 months and a few other office buildings downtown, now at 18 York which he says is the best, most advanced building he's worked in.

That's a little surprising. Sounds like there's a fair bit of difference between 18 York and BAC despite the latter being only a couple years older.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

Fully re-clad from this vantage point;

and this one;

 

[Tulse]

It's really like a new building.

It is a tragedy that its clean lines are so compromised by the mess on the roof.

 

[steveve]

I'm sorry, but i can't help but not pay attention to Trump Tower ^^^ FCP isn't cool enough!

 

[wmedia]

From Sheraton:

 

[DSC]

Does anyone know when the hope to finish the re-cladding? I walked past today and there are 6-7 floors below their current work area and they are busily working on the much smaller "podium' section.

 

[drum118]

The interior of the building is seeing the removal of marble from the walls as well the floors also.

The last time I was inside, all the floors around the elevators were being upgraded with areas of the main floor blocked off for work on the floor and walls.

Some of the marble wall on the north side has been removed and not sure what going into those area.

EllisDon wanted to as low as they can be by years end so they don't have to deal with the winter weather. Based on where they are, they are going to be a lot lower than plan for by year end.

You cannot see the work from any direction or distance, unless you are close to the building now.

Oct 27

You can see the Trump Tower here and too bad not having the zoom with me for a closer shot of both building and area.

 

[vegeta_skyline]

 

[FAC33]

Does anyone know when the hope to finish the re-cladding? I walked past today and there are 6-7 floors below their current work area and they are busily working on the much smaller "podium' section.

They had originally planned to have it done by now, but they're running behind their original plan. If they have 6-7 floors left, they're on track for sometime in December, which is about where I predicted they'd be (back in July or August). They were finishing about five floors a month back in the summer, but picking up some speed as things progressed.

I do miss the progress monitor that used to be in the lobby. Part of the floor replacement has blocked off the area where that used to be. This is actually the part I'm interested to see develop. So far it doesn't look like the majority of wall marble will go. I'm just curious what happens to the floors in the perimeter areas (where various shades of tan marble are used). They haven't started on those yet. It definitely looks like the outside will be done well before the inside.