Toronto Pinnacle One Yonge | 351.85m | 106s | Pinnacle | Hariri Pontarini

Looking at the rising structure, I can't help but notice that its structural elements, particularly the columns, don't seem significantly different from those of other condominiums with fewer storeys. The columns appear relatively thin, and I'm curious about the engineering decisions that enable such a tall structure without apparent signs of increased structural demands.

I'm wondering if the design relies on a higher number of columns per unit area of the building plate, or if there are advancements in the strength of reinforced concrete that allow for thinner columns while maintaining structural integrity at such heights.

Can anyone shed light on the architectural and engineering considerations that might explain the seemingly unremarkable appearance of the building's structure despite its extraordinary (for TO) height?

I would appreciate any insights or info...
 
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cityspace said:
Looking at the rising structure, I can't help but notice that its structural elements, particularly the columns, don't seem significantly different from those of other condominiums with fewer storeys. The columns appear relatively thin, and I'm curious about the engineering decisions that enable such a tall structure without apparent signs of increased structural demands.

I'm wondering if the design relies on a higher number of columns per unit area of the building plate, or if there are advancements in the strength of reinforced concrete that allow for thinner columns while maintaining structural integrity at such heights.

Can anyone shed light on the architectural and engineering considerations that might explain the seemingly unremarkable appearance of the building's structure despite its extraordinary (for TO) height?

I would appreciate any insights or info...
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Looks like they are using a lot of shear walls (stabilizing concrete walls). Maybe that deals with lateral forces and eliminates/reduces the need for megacolumns.
 

High-Angle, looking North:

Toronto Model 01-14-24 Sky Tower.png


Low Angle, looking North:

Toronto Model 01-14-24 Sky Tower2.png
 
January 14, 2024:

Tower 2:

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Now with GO Trains:

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Tower 1 with Tom Otterness' Immigrant Family:

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A closer look at Tower 1:

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One Yonge Community Recreation Centre Lobby:

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Wikipedia administrator and bureaucrat Xeno presenting ideas for Wikipedia Day Toronto 2024 held in One Yonge Community Recreation Centre:

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Read more here:

Wikipedia:Meetup/Toronto/Wikipedia Day 2024 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

I attended this meetup and it went well. The main topic is AI and Wikipedia. Many prominent Toronto-based Wikipedians also attended. They are very amazed at my achievement of holding the longest editing streak on Wikipedia.

Fun fact:

Xeno unblocked me from my 49-minute-long Wikipedia block. Because of him, I am able to achieve the longest editing streak on Wikipedia. Yes, Xeno is also very impressed at my contributions here in UrbanToronto, especially with my photos of The One:

One Bloor West | 308.6m | 85s | Tridel | Foster + Partners

Nov 10 -
urbantoronto.ca urbantoronto.ca
 
cityspace said:
Looking at the rising structure, I can't help but notice that its structural elements, particularly the columns, don't seem significantly different from those of other condominiums with fewer storeys. The columns appear relatively thin, and I'm curious about the engineering decisions that enable such a tall structure without apparent signs of increased structural demands.
Click to expand...
I didn't work on this building specifically, but I have some experience with designing structures of supertall buildings.
Collingwoodbuildinglover said:
this is still very much just coming out of the podium stage. Also, if you look in the pictures you'll see post tensioning cables that run up every few floors and add integrity to the building as well as everything tying back to the main core
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That's part of it, the cables are to reduce axial tension, they would only change the size of the column if tension (i.e. reinforcement ratio) was governing size. They significantly assist the lateral load design.
officedweller said:
Looks like they are using a lot of shear walls (stabilizing concrete walls). Maybe that deals with lateral forces and eliminates/reduces the need for megacolumns.
Click to expand...
Pretty much, yeah, but then also add tension cables mentioned above.
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@cityspace,

I've been to this site, and the elements are massive compared to other buildings. It doesn't look like it in photos because everything is huge, but some of those beams are the size of bridge girders. However, at first glance, I'd agree that they aren't as large as I'd expect.

Materials can be a part of it, but that stuff has been around for a while and is expensive. See UHPC (>120 MPa, about 4x traditional strength) and GFRP Rebar (~1300 MPa, or 3.25x stronger than traditional), for examples.

The challenge in supertall design is creating an efficient system that doesn't require massive elements.

Upon closer inspection, I can see that the post-tensioned shear walls extend almost to the balconies, rather than just encompass the core. There's very few columns in the traditional sense, as they use so many full walls instead. If you were to compare the area and reinforcement of those walls to a handful of megacolumns, they'd probably be quite similar, which means the architect clearly would just rather have the structure hidden in the partitions than leverage the structure in the design (like 1 Bloor West).

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TL;DR: The elements are huge, they're probably using extra strong material, it's post-tensioned, and a distributed instead of localized system.
 
Parkdalian said:
Coming to this thread to see if anyone posts any photos of the building and the Inner Harbour during the cold snap. 👀
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Not cold enough yet for some cool evaporative effect and/or too windy for the bay to freeze.
They finished the floor on level 14 and took the day off or it’s break time.

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Jan 17
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Jan 15
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Now that they've poured the floor above the transfer slab I wonder if we'll see fly forms built and this start speeding up 👀
 
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