thaivic
Senior Member
Crane Rising.
- Thread starter urbandreamer
- Start date
Johnny Au
Superstar
March 26, 2025:
Yonge and Bloor (aka the Golden Corner or the Champagne Corner):
Yonge Side:
In front of Chick-fil-A:
Yonge and Hayden:
Yonge and Bloor (aka the Golden Corner or the Champagne Corner):
Yonge Side:
In front of Chick-fil-A:
Yonge and Hayden:
jer1961
Active Member
As I mentioned last week, something special today. (I'll add my regular 1 Bloor shots later today or tomorrow.) On March 28, 1975, 50 years ago today, I walked down to the CN Tower, its antenna still being installed, and took shots, and also went up to the Toronto Dominion Centre observation floor in the TD Bank Tower, got shots of the CN Tower and of the First Canadian Place, topped off and adding the skin.
These shots were with my hand-dandy Pocket Instamatic, using 110 film... can't find the negatives, so these are scans from the prints. Because I used a scanner, I couldn't get the file sizes small enough to post, so these are shots from my phone off my laptop screen!
So here you go, as 1 Bloor W closes in on a milestone, surpassing in height the FCP which has held the record for a half century, a few shots of that tower under construction, and also of the CN Tower, the ultimate height record-holder, also under construction. Several weeks after these shots were taken, the final pieces of the antenna were added to top off the CN Tower. (I was not in town for that.)
The first shot from down John Street, taken from where Metro Hall is now. The crane still on top of the FCP at the left. Then from the observation deck of the TD Centre. A scale model of the CN Tower is seen in the reflection of the window. The observation deck closed after the CN Tower opened. I seem to remember that the Commerce Court had an observation deck, also closed after the CN Tower opened...
These shots were with my hand-dandy Pocket Instamatic, using 110 film... can't find the negatives, so these are scans from the prints. Because I used a scanner, I couldn't get the file sizes small enough to post, so these are shots from my phone off my laptop screen!
So here you go, as 1 Bloor W closes in on a milestone, surpassing in height the FCP which has held the record for a half century, a few shots of that tower under construction, and also of the CN Tower, the ultimate height record-holder, also under construction. Several weeks after these shots were taken, the final pieces of the antenna were added to top off the CN Tower. (I was not in town for that.)
The first shot from down John Street, taken from where Metro Hall is now. The crane still on top of the FCP at the left. Then from the observation deck of the TD Centre. A scale model of the CN Tower is seen in the reflection of the window. The observation deck closed after the CN Tower opened. I seem to remember that the Commerce Court had an observation deck, also closed after the CN Tower opened...
khaldoon
Active Member
mburrrrr
Senior Member
Fun with the pencil
ComptoirGeneral
Active Member
Like most supertalls, this building's height is better appreciated from a distance!Looking tall
From the Wallace Avenue Footbridge, March 27. View attachment 639708View attachment 639709
UtakataNoAnnex
Superstar
Curious questions about tall towers and laying floor plates: Does it take longer to complete proportional to the height said floor being constructed is off the ground? It always seems to me the last floors outside the mechanicals take longer to complete.
ComptoirGeneral
Active Member
Yes! Good question—there are a few reasons why construction tends to slow down toward the top, even outside of the mechanical floors.
One big factor is vertical transportation. Getting workers, tools, and materials all the way up to the top floors takes a lot more time the higher you go. Hoists or lifts are in high demand by that point, and sometimes there are fewer of them operating near the top. Just moving people and stuff becomes a bottleneck.
Weather also plays a huge role. Wind speeds are stronger at higher elevations, and that can slow or stop work altogether—especially anything involving cranes or concrete pours. Even on a sunny day, high winds can delay things at the top while the floors below stay active.
Then there’s the added complexity and safety protocols. Working at extreme heights means more time spent setting up scaffolding, tying off for safety, and just moving around carefully. It’s not as fast or smooth as working lower down, where everything is more accessible.
Another thing that contributes is that the last few floors are often more customized. While the mid-floors are usually repetitive and can be built pretty efficiently, the upper floors might have unique structural features—like setbacks, angled walls, or even penthouse layouts. That added complexity slows things down.
Finally, by the time crews get to the top, there’s often a shift in focus toward interior work on the completed lower floors. Resources like workers and equipment might be divided between finishing the interior and topping out the structure, which can stretch things out a bit.
So yeah, you're absolutely right—those last few floors can drag out more than you’d expect. Not necessarily because they're higher, but because a bunch of smaller challenges start to stack up (no pun intended).
Natika33
Active Member
From a different angle (Philosopher's Walk) from earlier today:
Natika33
Active Member
Oh, and this atmospheric one from tonight (similar angle to @ImmenselyMental for day-to-night comparison purposes):
Collingwoodbuildinglover
Senior Member
It's insane that we have 3 months Max before this is completely topped off I don't think the crown is actually going to be that much extra wondering whether it will be concrete grade beams going across or whether the columns top off and then that portion is steel
jer1961
Active Member
Photos taken today, Friday (Mar. 28). Lots of movement on the top since I posted last Friday. As seen in mbrrrr's post above, it looks like they are working now on level 82, whose ceiling is at 285 m. And, most of the scaffolds parked below the 4th mechanical level have now been raised above it as work commences on the building's final stretch. The corner scaffolds encasing the hangers below are where they were last week, around level 73, save for the SE corner which is up a level. The black Rail Climbing Systems installing the buildings skin are where they were last week, level 56, soon to clear the 3rd mechanical level to install level 59's skin. A small section of cladding on a super column on the south face is all that is newly visible since last week.
With the side blue scaffolds on the south face now above the 4th mechanical level, the external elevator is up one more floor, to 73. And the crane has been raised one segment. As I shot in the later afternoon, the next set of crane column braces were being installed, at the base of level 76. Check out the photos of this at the end of the post.
Starting with the view from the south, Yonge and Dundas, moving up to Charles east of Yonge. Then, the view from by Holt Renfrew on Bloor west of Yonge, including a tighter view of the west face at the top. Then, from Cumberland east of Bay, with another closer look at the top. The view from the NE corner of Yonge and Bloor. Then the view from Queen's Park Cres. W and Hoskin, and then from Queen's Park Crescent and College (taken before the brace was raised, workers are visible on the 76th floor). And ending with a sequence of shots as a new crane brace was installed.
www.flickr.com
www.flickr.com
With the side blue scaffolds on the south face now above the 4th mechanical level, the external elevator is up one more floor, to 73. And the crane has been raised one segment. As I shot in the later afternoon, the next set of crane column braces were being installed, at the base of level 76. Check out the photos of this at the end of the post.
Starting with the view from the south, Yonge and Dundas, moving up to Charles east of Yonge. Then, the view from by Holt Renfrew on Bloor west of Yonge, including a tighter view of the west face at the top. Then, from Cumberland east of Bay, with another closer look at the top. The view from the NE corner of Yonge and Bloor. Then the view from Queen's Park Cres. W and Hoskin, and then from Queen's Park Crescent and College (taken before the brace was raised, workers are visible on the 76th floor). And ending with a sequence of shots as a new crane brace was installed.
One Bloor West (The One) "time-lapse"
From October, 2020, as above-ground construction started in earnest at The One (1 Bloor W.) in Toronto. More or less a weekly photo usually taken on a Friday, with some gaps during early-on construction hiatuses. The initial photographs are from 2015, during demolition at the site, 2018, during...
www.flickr.com
One Bloor West (The One) construction
Photos of One Bloor West (The One) construction progress, including a "before" shot from 2011 and several from 2015 after the demolition of Stollery's. Notable for becoming Canada's first supertall building, i.e., over 300 metres (985 feet) tall. (The CN Tower does not fall under the definition...
www.flickr.com
ImmenselyMental
Active Member
Thanks for the mention.
The nighttime photos in your post are from outside the Royal Sonesta Hotel, while my Bloor Street perspectives of The One are from outside OISE (about 200 metres west of where you took your photos, on the west side of Bedford Road).
hawc
Senior Member
hawc
Senior Member
I don't mean to be mean or cynical, but I'm trying to figure out the appeal of living at Yonge & Bloor. You've got the mink mile I suppose - which always feels like it's under various states of construction, is a bit run down or has a bit of homeless population vibe to it. You've got Yorkville to the north which I suppose is the biggest draw. You're close to the ROM. You're on two subway lines (although I feel the residents of One Bloor aren't really the transit types.) I don't know I just don't get it. For that kind of money I feel like I'd be buying somewhere else in Toronto. I mean Yonge Street from Bloor south is pretty much District 9. Bloor running eastwards isn't really anything. Really don't get the appearl. It likes to bill itself as the centre of the city, but that's not even accurate, that's actually Yonge & Eglinton geographically speaking. What am I missing here?