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Toronto is getting its most significant office tower since the late 1980s and early 1990s, when titans like Scotia Plaza and Brookfield Place (then known as BCE Place) joined the skyline. A few hundred metres south of these Financial District towers, the first phase of the WilkinsonEyre-designed CIBC SQUARE is adding to the Toronto skyline, rapidly ascending towards a 49-storey, 238-metre height at Bay and Lake Shore.
The south tower of the office complex from developers Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines has been under construction since a ground breaking marked the start of work back in 2017, and we've been regularly providing updates on the building's progress, most recently one month ago. In the month since, crews from EllisDon have progressed on building the concrete tower core, the surrounding steel skeleton, exterior cladding, and more.
At the heart of the build, is the central concrete tower core that will contain the tower's elevators and stairwells. As of last week, the tower core had been formed as high as the 42nd floor. This week, the tower core will be having walls formed up to level 43.5. While the tower's official floor count is 49, the North part of the building will rise an additional seven storeys for the tower's crown containing mechanical equipment.
Installation of the structural steel skeleton is also moving at an impressive speed, furthest along at the southeast corner of the building, where crews are currently working on assembling steel beams on levels 27 through 30. Following a few levels behind, concrete floor slabs are being poured over corrugated steel floor panels for the structurally-completed floors, with the 23rd floor being poured this week.
The most eye-catching progress is the ongoing installation of the building's curtain wall glass envelope. The head-turning diamond patterned cladding had been installed as high as the 11th floor as of this past Friday, with the glazing's quilted effect becoming more pronounced with every new row installed.
The project will include a new GO bus terminal, replacing the existing terminal to the north of he ran corridor and freeing its footprint up for development of the slightly taller second phase office tower. Two cranes are in place east of the rising first phase tower, working away on the podium levels that will contain the new terminal. Structural steel installation is beginning for the podium's fourth level this week, while work continues on levels 1 and 2 of the bus terminal.
Immediately north of the tower's build site, a section of the Union Station rail corridor is being decked over to form the skelton of a new elevated public park that will bridge the complex's two towers.
Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, (where you will also find several more recent shots of the glass), or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.
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