A final(?!) blast of winter weather set in on Toronto yesterday, just in time for Tridel’s 300 Front Street West topping-off party. Construction crews and Tridel staff were treated to a feast to celebrate the topping-out of the 49-storey tower and the attached 13-storey loft building. We were fortunate enough to be invited to the active construction site at John and Front to join in yesterday’s festivities, as well as to take our very first look inside the Wallman Architects-designed condominium development.
The celebratory meal was served on the 15th floor in an area that will become the building's recreation facilities. We took advantage of the opportunity to examine the fritted balcony glass from an intimate perspective.
Looking towards street level from a 15th floor balcony, we see the site of the future public courtyard, currently without a hint of the coming park-like space designed by renowned landscape architect Claude Cormier.
Anxious to experience the views from the top, we board a construction hoist and ride it to the 44th floor before disgorging to continue our ascent on foot. The inclement weather, unpleasant as it may have been, provided quite the dramatic scene for our photos. Upon arriving at the top, the exquisite city views went above and beyond our expectations. Darkened overcast skies served as a brooding backdrop for the surrounding vistas, many of which were framed by ranks of icicles brought on by the early morning storm.
In this western view, we can see a distant fogged-over Humber Bay with one of 300 Front’s distinctive red RCS (Rail Climbing System) panels visible in the foreground.
Looking to the north, we see the under-construction Cinema Tower, now topped out, on the left side of the image. Towards the centre of the photo, the cranes of the Residences of the RCMI and Aura are visible, with the recently completed Shangri-La shrouded in the fog of the Enwave steam plant’s chimney on the right.
Though the views from the top were outstanding to say the least, the bitter cold winds continued to hurl a relentless freezing rain into both our faces and camera lenses. With the storm catching a second wind, we decided to call it a day and make our way back to the construction hoist.
Our feet firmly planted on the ground again, we stop to take in one last look at the building from the base, from the site of the future courtyard. From this angle we can see that balcony glass has been installed up to roughly the 20th floor.
Though the weather cut our tour short, we hope to return in the (warmer) months ahead, and provide readers with a closer look at the building’s interior spaces and features. In the meantime please visit the 300 Front Street West dataBase page, linked below, for additional information such as project facts, renderings and floorplans. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the related Forum thread, here, or voice your opinion in the comments section provided below.