Toronto Sun Life Financial Tower & Harbour Plaza Residences | 236.51m | 67s | Menkes | Sweeny &Co

It's surely not bad but we're still nowhere near where other cities are. The stuff on London's Leadenhall Building comes immediately to mind as some of the finest I've ever seen. Unbelievably clear and almost completely free of wave-forming impurities:

His Neo Bankside is equally impressive in that regard. The closest we got to that quality is what? Four Seasons?

AoD
 
Yep, I've found Walmart's shopping experience far superior to Canadian Tire. There are times I have been in Canadian Tire where the store is empty, I can't find what I'm looking for, and there isn't a single person on the floor to help me. Also, Walmart has a much larger variety of products than Canadian Tire does.

I guess it's just me but every time i go to Walmart majority of the products are scratched or dented. Heck, i remember once seeing a cereal box opened. I haven't been to Walmart in over a year and never plan on going again.
Whereas Canadian Tire has completely turned everything around imo. It's my go to shopping for everyday items.
 
The cladding on the podium here is not stone veneer, but rather metal from what I've seen. Some of the panels are in fact a bit dented.
 
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From my May 29th Development Tour of Toronto
 

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It's very impressive, yet frightening. In several of the previous pics (thanks btw) it literally seems as if the front is being walled off, still amazes me it was not so long ago, at all, that it was nothing but parking lots and abandoned railway lines, love it or hate it, it's not the city we grew up in anymore, and isn't that wonderful?
 
The cladding on the podium here is not stone veneer, but rather metal from what I've seen. Some of the panels are in fact a bit dented.

The podium panels you are talking about are actually porcelain veneer sandwiched to cement board, and secured to aluminium curtainwall frames.

Unbelievably clear and almost completely free of wave-forming impurities:
Waviness is created during the tempering or heat-strengthening process not by impurities, but by deformation in the surface of the glass itself. Basically what you are seeing is a deviation in the glass from being optically flat, not an impurity in the material itself.

Glass is tempered or heat-strengthened in a large furnace. To travel through the furnace, annealed glass travels on ceramic rollers, and it sags between these rollers, creating 'waves' in the surface. Hence why this imperfection is called roller wave distortion. There will always be some distortion, as the heat-strengthening process is modifying the flatness of the annealed glass itself. The thickness and overall size of the glass affect the amount of distortion that you see. In general, the thinner the sheet of glass, the more deviation from flatness that you will have. Larger glass sheets will also appear to have more distortion, as they are trying to maintain flatness over a larger surface area.

The issue could be caused by either too much heating or too long heating of the glass as it goes through the furnace, the oscillation of the rollers, or imperfection in the rollers themselves.
 
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Thank you for the the explanation wopchop. Your description of the detailed manufacturing process is much appreciated.

I am however, still at a bit of a loss, as to why buildings elsewhere (London for example) can have such perfect glazed surfaces, yet ours still seem 'defective' (from perfection, for lack of a better adjective)?
 
The cladding on the podium here is not stone veneer, but rather metal from what I've seen. Some of the panels are in fact a bit dented.

Thank you for the the explanation wopchop. Your description of the detailed manufacturing process is much appreciated.

I am however, still at a bit of a loss, as to why buildings elsewhere (London for example) can have such perfect glazed surfaces, yet ours still seem 'defective' (from perfection, for lack of a better adjective)?
Just depends on the supplier. Sometimes it's luck. We also live in a cold climate, so our glass is commonly an insulated glass unit with a low-E coatings. The low-E coating, which is increasing the reflection of the glass, can make the issue more noticeable. And that noticeably can change depending on what surface the low-E coating is applied to.

I haven't noticed any issue with bad roller wave distortion at 1 York.

Sometimes it's not actually an issue at all, and you simply notice it more in pictures that you do in person. Sometimes you only notice it depending on the weather. Even if the sun is not shining directly on the glass, it will be more noticeable on a blue sky sunny day or when light is reflected from clouds, versus on an overcast day. It is also more noticeable when wearing polarizing sunglasses and depending on the angle that you are viewing the glass.

You will always find some distortion if you look hard enough, as the heat-strengthening process will always create some by nature of the process itself.
 
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As far as I know, low-iron glass tends to have less distortion because of its more transparent appearance / less reflection. I think when panels are more reflective (i.e. a lot of Toronto's office towers and to some extent this tower), it really pronounces that distortion effect.
 
As far as I know, low-iron glass tends to have less distortion because of its more transparent appearance / less reflection. I think when panels are more reflective (i.e. a lot of Toronto's office towers and to some extent this tower), it really pronounces that distortion effect.
Yes. The reflection is going to pronounce the distortion because your eye now has references points from which to observe the variation in glass flatness. This is why Low-E coatings, which lower emissivity tend to exhibit more distortion, as they are reflecting ultraviolet light from the sun.

The easiest way to view what I'm talking about is to find a sheet of annealed glass (commonly found in low-rise doors, windows, etc) and look at it. You will not see wave distortion (unless the manufacturer completely botched the float glass). This is because glass in high-rise towers is just annealed glass that has gone through the furnace to be heat-strengthened or tempered, which by it's nature, is the process that modifies the original flatness of the glass itself (by heating it and then rapidly cooling it). Annealed glass is so flat (and thus, free of wave distortion) because all the ingredients are mixed in a furnace, heated, and then floated out on a sheet of molten tin (hence, float glass).
 
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Anyone know which floor were at? I looks to be around 25 floors to think only 10 more floors to go!
 

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