CIBC SQUARE has consistently been the subject of much attention on the UrbanToronto Forum, with its development updates frequently featured in the monthly roundup of top database files and captured in many Daily Photos. It has been 21 months since our last full update in December, 2022, however, and significant progress has been made on the North Tower since then. Designed by WilkinsonEyre Architects and Adamson Associates Architects for Hines and Ivanhoé Cambridge, the tower is on its way to 50 storeys, joining its completed 49-storey sibling to the south.
In the image below from between Scotiabank Arena and CIBC SQUARE's South Tower, we look across Bay Street and the Union Station Rail Corridor to the North Tower, with its elevator core topped off, but much steel structure still to come. The angled glass panels in a fasceted, jewel-like design, have ascended to approximately 34 storeys. Above them, the steel structure extends further, with 12 completed storeys yet to be enveloped by the curtainwall. In the middle of that section, yellow weather protection materials cover floors where concrete slabs are being poured on steel beams and sheeting..
Heading north, we have relocated to the eastern entry area to Union Station. Looking across Bay Street to the southeast, we see the intricate work in progress for the multi-storey podium. Above, a canopy extends outward to shield the future public plaza, while to its right, glazing work continues on the pedestrian PATH bridge over Bay Street, which will connect directly to Union Station and the bulk of the city's PATH system. To the left, scaffolding supports the installation of glazing for the tower's lobby areas.
Climbing up above the downtown core’s busy streets and even the congested tracks of the Union Station Rail Corridor, the photograph below offers a serene view from the southern end of the elevated park that bridges between the towers, with the North Tower growing from behind the trees to the right. The park features landscaping with lush trees and diverse plantings, as well as gathering areas and a wood deck pathway meandering through it. Below the tree canopies In the near distance, construction staging is visible, where work continues adjacent to the rising North Tower.
Heading east to Yonge Street, we now look northwest. Besides the tower crane rising atop the elevator core, a second crane clings to the eastern elevation. Below, behind the Union Station Rail Corridor, we see work on the extended eastern volume of the podium. Decking and formwork outline four levels of the eastern podium.
Finally, we cross under the tracks again, this time for a westward view from across Yonge Street towards the east elevation of the North Tower and podium. Some curtainwall is installed on the podium below the third tower crane, positioned where it can reach the eastern end of the site. The steel structure for the uppermost floors of the podium is close to being completed, in advance of concrete pours for the floors, with a white tarp covering the third floor from the top where a pour may be underway. Below, the steel skeleton for the eastern pedestrian PATH bridge are seen to the left, as work continues on this link extending Toronto’s PATH network across Yonge Street to Backstage on The Esplanade, improving connectivity for residents and office workers in the downtown core.
With the South Tower standing 237.73m, the North Tower will rise slightly taller at 241.39m when completed in 2025.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, 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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