Aura Condos, soon to be Canada's tallest residential building, has started the lengthy process of cladding itself in glass. Forum member Atlantis has documented the progress that has been made as of December 22, showing the glass cladding on the podium quickly climbing above the hoarding.

Cladding being applied to Aura, image by Atlantis

Located at Yonge and Gerrard, Aura is one of the most highly anticipated projects currently underway in the city. Coming in at a total of 75 storeys, Aura will contain 931 units. The full floor, 11,370 square foot penthouse sent the city's real estate followers into a frenzy with the lengthy and detailed video tour used by developer Canderel Stoneridge to promote the unit. Toronto favourites Graziani + Corazza were retained as project architects.

South-East corner of Aura Condos, image by Atlantis

Those of you who've been reading UT for a while know we've focused on the podium construction of Aura quite a bit — the glass cladding allows us to better show you the double-height floors that will contain retail upon completion. What really stands out in these pictures is the large gap left on the corner of the podium — that will remain open, to ensure that corner of Yonge and Gerrard remains large enough for pedestrian traffic.

Image by Atlantis

It's exciting to see the cladding already being applied, even if the tower itself hasn't reached any notable height. Not due to be complete until 2013, Aura will definitely be a feature here on UrbanToronto throughout 2012 —expect to see some great photos posted in the Projects and Construction Forum here.