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It's been just over three years since Hines and Ivanhoé Cambridge broke ground on their CIBC SQUARE office complex, just south of Union Station in Downtown Toronto. In the time since, the complex's 49-storey south tower—designed by UK-based WilkinsonEyre Architects in collaboration with Adamson Associates—has risen to its full height of 237.7 metres while final additions to its envelop are made at the top of the tower.
We last checked in on the project in mid-May, when the final sections of structural steel were installed to form the structure of the tower's faceted crown. Progress in the weeks since has included the installation of curtainwall glazing for the crown atop the tower's shorter south volume, as the final levels of office and mechanical space are enclosed to the north.
With the building now structurally complete, a milestone currently being passed is the ongoing removal of the south tower crane which began last week and is set to wrap up momentarily. The disassembly has seen crews fixed to arresting gear unbolt crane sections, which were then lowered to waiting trucks at street level with the help of a roof derrick, a smaller crane that will itself be dissembled and removed once its job is complete.
UrbanToronto Forum contributor Spitfyre was active on the scene during the crane removal process, and provided a set of acrophobia-inducing photos captured from the scene. The first of these from the extended jib arm of the south crane, faces west over the south crown, showing the roof derrick in action, along with a close-up look at the crown glazing.
Below, a second photo facing north shows the derrick's lines fixed to the crane's detached jib arm, preparing to lower it to street level. In the background, the north crane continues to work away on the upper crown.
A view captured from the southwest shows the crane's mast section mid-disassembly. Removal of the exterior-mounted crane and its supporting brackets is bringing a cleaner look to the tower's dimpled south facade, with missing panels of curtainwall glazing soon to fill in the empty spaces where the crane was fixed to the structure.
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, or leave a comment below.
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