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The drive to complete the structure of Cadillac Fairview’s 160 Front West has been pushing forward steadily since the start of the year, providing a consistent stream of intriguing visuals along the way. While the majority of the sculpted tower’s 46-storey frame was constructed with steel around a concrete core, the sloped crown that tops it all off employs a steel only composition in order to achieve its irregular shape. Displayed prominently from its perch 200 metres above Front Street West, the following set of images captures how this unique design feature has come together.
Beginning with an image looking at the crown from the southwest taken last week, we can see that the majority of the structure was complete at that time. The full extent of the sloped massing can be seen on the south elevation while on the north side, the final pieces of steel to complete the peak had yet to be installed.
Catching up with this week, an image viewing the tower from the east shows that the pieces missing from the northwest corner in the previous image have since been installed, giving the crown a complete profile. Several key pieces are still missing on the northern half however, that will provide important structural support through the addition of a number of horizontal beams, mirroring the southern half (left).
Interestingly, the image above shows us that the curved face of the eastern elevation is composed of cylindrical steel beams rather than the standard I-beam shape. These cylindrical members have also been treated with a white finish that stands out against the surrounding grey members, indicating that they have aesthetic importance as well, and will be incorporated into the interior finishes of the space, as this part of the top floors will be an atrium space with views over Downtown.
Close-up, Additionally, zooming in reveals that both the white members and the grey ones feature projecting clips along their spans, mounting points for the glazing to be fixed to. In the image below from Tuesday when the last beam was hoisted and bolted into place, we see another of the last beams about to be received by the crew.
Down at street level, the building’s exterior envelope continues to impress, its staggered mounting of glass the design work of AS + GG Architecture. With the curtainwall installation now complete all the way to the tower’s uppermost floors, the completion of the crown will allow the final stage of glazing to begin, culminating in the end of exterior work on the tower.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file where you will find many more renderings, linked below. If you'd like, 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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