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During the past several and frenzied years of commercial development in the GTA, one of the busiest companies seems to be Iron Forming, which specializes in foundation work, formwork, rebar, placing footings and concrete slabs, the important bones which form the very core of any structure.
Among its recently completed projects is Parallax’s 90 Queen Street East at Mutual Street in the heart of the downtown core. Iron Forming was responsible for the formwork, concrete and rebar for the 35-storey residential highrise, which included three levels of underground parking. Iron Forming worked closely with construction manager Citicore on the unique challenges which come when building in such a high-density urban location.
“Firstly, we had to navigate around the heritage components of the existing building, forming around the preserved façade with precision and care,” says Iron Forming Vice President Ron Colucci. “Secondly, once we reached the 32nd floor, airspace restrictions due to the flight path connected with St. Michael's Hospital required us to dismantle our tower crane. As a result, we manually constructed the final three floors without the use of a crane, an extremely complex task that demanded meticulous planning and coordination.”
Iron Forming and Citicore worked as a unified team in maintaining open communications while collaboratively addressing all challenges and consistently working towards common goals. “One of the key contributions we brought to the project was developing a tailored construction plan for the upper floors, especially in response to the tower crane removal,” explains Colucci. “Our proactive approach and strong relationship with Citicore allowed us to adapt and move forward with minimal delays.”
Iron Forming also worked on the recently completed twin-tower 31-storey Pinnacle East condo project at 3260 Sheppard Avenue East, a complex project which benefitted from Iron Forming’s long experience in construction to address any issues in ensuring its hands-on approach contributed to moving the project along smoothly.
Nearing completion is Accel’s 1625 Military Trail residential project in Scarborough, a wide project of two eight-storey buildings. Here, Iron Forming provided formwork, concrete and rebar placing, and the project is now on track to be completed ahead of schedule, a significant benefit to both the developer and its new residents.
Iron Forming is also working on three other residential projects, including 307 Sherbourne Street, 50 Sheppard Avenue West, which includes two towers as well as townhomes, and 1205 Cawthra Road in Mississauga. With so many projects on the go simultaneously, it’s important to allocate people and equipment efficiently to ensure smooth project management to avoid any delays.
“We ensure that before bidding on any project, we have the manpower and resources required to execute the work to our standards,” says Colucci. “Once a project is awarded, it’s a matter of strategically allocating crews and equipment based on each site’s specific demands. Thanks to our reliable teams, many of whom we have worked with for years, we’re able to trust our crews to perform efficiently across multiple job sites to avoid project delays.”
A sign of a bright future for any company is the ability, and confidence, to invest in new equipment to improve upon its deliverables and product offerings. Along with the numerous estimations currently in progress for future projects, Iron Forming recently purchased a 68-metre-high concrete pump, the largest such pump in Ontario.
“We’re incredibly excited about this acquisition,” says Colucci. “This cutting-edge equipment enables us to pump concrete up to 30-storey heights using trucks, giving us unmatched flexibility on high-rise projects. It will open doors to new job opportunities and project types and enhances our ability to lead in innovation and performance across the industry.”
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on these developments, but in the meantime, you can learn more about them from our Database files, 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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