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Finishing details are being made to the exterior of Bazis and Plaza's 1 Yorkville condominium tower on Yonge Street north of Bloor in Toronto's Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood. The 58-storey, Roy Varacalli-designed development topped out at its final 183.2-metre height roughly one year ago, and work has advanced considerably both inside and out in the time since this milestone was reached.
Our last update on the project came in mid-May, 2019, just just before construction topped out with the structural completion of the building's two-level rooftop amenity and surrounding fins. In the image below from two months ago, workers continue the installation of equipment on the building's roof, some of which will be an outdoor terrace for residents.
The tower's exterior is most prominently marked by its crimped fins, which become particularly textural when direct sunlight and shadow play upon them. The remainder of the exterior is finished in a mix of window wall panels with clear glazing, waist height mullions, and grey spandrel.
Catching up with the nearly-complete main tower cladding, clear balcony guards are now almost fully in place along the vertical strips of inset balconies lining the tower facades, with the last panels to be installed on upper floor balconies in the coming weeks. Otherwise, the building is now almost entirely enclosed, with just a vertical strip along the tower's north facade, where a construction hoist is still in use. Once internal elevators are ready to take remaining materials, the hoist will be removed and the affected units will be enclosed.
Another big change in recent months is the extension of the tower's crimped fins from the cantilevered tower floors down to grade along the west elevation. Mounted on metal brackets and secured to the podium with steel poles, the fins carry the most significant design element of the tower down to the pedestrian realm. Stone, paving materials, and trees are now being put in place for the forecourt that will be framed by the vertical elements.
Work is expected to wrap up later this year, when the building will welcome its first residents. The completed tower will be adding 577 new homes to the Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood, on a stretch of Yorkville Avenue that will see a huge boost in residential density as more projects move through planning and construction.
You can learn more from our Database file for the project, linked below. If you'd like to, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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