Toronto L-Tower | 204.82m | 58s | Cityzen | Daniel Libeskind

Jaguar4u said:
Yes. That's a real antique rendering :) Very early stages of planning. What year was that?
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January 24, 2005: Initial Announcement
CEO of the Hummingbird Centre Daniel Brambilla announced that world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind has agreed to design the proposed new redevelopment of the Hummingbird Centre. The engagement will include a new cultural facility to be combined with the existing theatre as well as a residential point tower to be built by Castlepoint Realty Partners Limited.

June 29, 2005: First L Tower construction blog entry at UrbanToronto

August 20, 2006: Initial Design with the boot
Studio Daniel Libeskind’s redesign of the 45-year-old Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts includes a new arts and a cultural facility, the Centre’s existing theatre, as well as a residential tower. The development will offer a new strategy for 21st century living whereby inner city life is actively integrated with culture and the arts. The residential tower component comprises 420,000 sq.ft of the redesign and is situated atop the cultural facilities. It will contain approximately 300 units and rise to a height of 50 stories, providing stunning views over downtown Toronto and Lake Ontario. The 77 million euro project is set to be complete in 2007.

December 7, 2007: Redesign and model without the boot
"L Tower" turns into "I Tower"

October 21, 2009: Groundbreaking
Over 400 people attended the L Tower Groundbreaking on Wednesday.
 
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I too prefer the design sans-boot. It shows more of the original building, which shouldn't just be hidden away.

I'm sure someone has already asked this, but am I right to assume external stonework and roof restoration of the original structure is part of this project?
 
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quick shot from last night

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Contra said:
Commerce Court is looking mighty dark in that picture!
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caltrane74 said:
Time for a re-cladding?
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It's called "Stainless" Steel for a good reason.

The brushed stainless steel of CCW has always caught the light in various ways. As has the mirrored glass. It shows dark in some light and bright in others. I watched CCW get built 40 years ago and it looks almost exactly the same today.

The only reason to re-clad CCW now is because the "Upgrade Crazy" generation is bored with how it looks and no other reason.

However, since the last of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" generation is dying out, I will imagine we will be seeing much more of these re-clads for cosmetic reasons and nothing to do with safety/insulation or weather-proofing.
 
Traynor said:
It's called "Stainless" Steel for a good reason.

The brushed stainless steel of CCW has always caught the light in various ways. As has the mirrored glass. It shows dark in some light and bright in others. I watched CCW get built 40 years ago and it looks almost exactly the same today.

The only reason to re-clad CCW now is because the "Upgrade Crazy" generation is bored with how it looks and no other reason.

However, since the last of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" generation is dying out, I will imagine we will be seeing much more of these re-clads for cosmetic reasons and nothing to do with safety/insulation or weather-proofing.
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I didn't watch Commerce Court West get built however, I'm quite certain the stainless has lost most of its lustre. The stainless is not longer completely stainless. I've also seen my share of workers grinding and applying chemicals to return it to its former glory without much success.
 
That is almost exactly how the operator gets up there. The man hoist stops at level 51 and the bridge crosses at 55. From there it's 150' up to the cab. The view is impressive for sure. btw, there is now 702 feet of tower and that is all there will be.

udo said:
I wish the crane operator would answer himself and also post some photos to show us how it looks from up there. It must be quite the view.

This is how I think he gets up there:
  • First he takes the man and material hoist (outside elevators on south side) all the way up to around the 50th floor.
  • Then he walks up the L-Tower staircase to the 55th floor where he crosses a bridge to the crane.
  • From there he still has to climb ladders inside the mast for another 40 to 50 meters to get to his crane cab.
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Those are fantastic pictures. This forum is bulging at the seams with great shots. The picture with the crew on the climber with a tower section in the air and a banner plane is priceless. My hard hat is tipped to you udo.
udo said:
Three more mast sections are being added to the crane today. Are these going to be the last ones?

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btw.: the airplane banner in the first picture says "Marry Me - Laurentian University"
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