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Construction is speeding along at FIVE, a 48-storey condominium complex by Five St. Joseph Developments Ltd., a company formed in partnership between Graywood Developments Ltd. and MOD Developments Inc. The Hariri Pontarini-designed development will feature unique waved façades, rising from a podium anchored by the preserved four-storey 1905 Gothic revival façade of the old Rawlinson Cartage Company building at 5 St. Joseph Street.
The project has now started the climb towards its 528-foot goal, with work currently proceeding on the second floor of the podium. The heritage façade on the north side of the building now rests on its new foundation—the temporary steel structure along St Joseph Street, which has been supporting the heritage façade ever since the adjoining building was demolished, no longer bears the structural load of the façade—instead it now provides balance for the brick wall as the podium floors rise behind it. Stepping through the construction gate, we take a closer look at the ongoing work on the first two floors of FIVE, as well as the heritage northern façade and its new foundation.
The 180-degree panorama below, with north to the right of the image and south to the left, provides a broader perspective on the project's current progress as seen from ground level.
For an even better look at the construction site, we turn to the following aerial shot, snapped a week prior to our visit by FIVE’s Project Coordinator, David Naismith.
ERA Architects is handling the historic restoration aspects of the project, including the development’s historic Yonge Street frontage, which will include an RBC bank branch while Starbucks looks like it is also now on board. More retailers will be announced later. The upper floors of the restored Yonge Street buildings will be home to 14 residential suites, out of the development’s total of 539 units.
The complex’s west frontage along St. Nicholas Street, a pedestrian-friendly woonerf, will be recreated with new façades built to match the architectural character of the warehouses which had to make way for construction.
By the time the project is complete in mid-2015, crews will have poured an estimated 50,000 cubic meters of concrete, reinforced by over 8,000,000 pounds of steel. The resulting 50 floor tower (48 residential, 2 mechanical floors) will stand atop a 6-level underground parking lot containing 200 spaces.
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