• Thread starter Suicidal Gingerbread Man
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New community update. Second crane coming this weekend!

Dear Neighbours,

Below is a brief update on the CIBC SQUARE project:

Construction at 141 Bay Street:
We continue to make significant progress in constructing the foundation for the new building at 141 Bay Street. On the west portion of the site we started pouring the concrete for the early logistics slab, an element of the project which is required to keep construction & staging logistics within the confines of the construction site. A tower crane will also be erected in this area over the coming weekend. In the central area of the site, we have reached the P3 founding elevation and will shortly commence excavation of the building footings. On the east portion of the site, bulk excavation of bedrock & the drilling of tiebacks continues. As the excavation continues, there will be an increased amount of jackhammering and truck traffic over the next several months.

The preparation of the site’s connection to storm sewers under Yonge Street is being coordinated with the City of Toronto. This will involve work within the public right-of-way on Yonge Street. Once the City’s plan is finalized, our neighbours can expect lane closures on Yonge Street. Further updates will be provided.

Overbuild Park
The next phase of the structural steel work at the overbuild park is expected to start in late October or early November 2021. This work will continue to take place overnight as it will require access to the active rail corridor. For safety, construction personnel and equipment are not permitted while trains are running on the tracks, requiring work to proceed overnight when trains are not in operation. Our team will share more details as the schedule for this work is confirmed.

When are we working?
The following regular working hours are expected at CIBC SQUARE:

7AM - 7PM Monday to Friday: Regular working hours at 141 Bay Street
11PM - 5AM Monday to Saturday: Overnight work in the rail corridor for the park overbuild
9AM - 7PM Saturday: Regular working hours at 141 Bay Street

We thank you in advance for your patience during this phase of construction. For any questions or comments, please email us at community@CIBCSQUARE.com.
 
This project is among the highest-quality high-rise developments in the city at the moment. It'll leave a mark on the city for generations.

But somehow, it seems kind of forgettable too. It's another glass tower in a sea of glass towers. By contrast, the MINT towers distinguished themselves with black steel and bronze windows, silver stainless steel, white marble (now white glass), and red-brown granite.

The monumental entrance canopy adds a lot of interest, but it also looks tacked on. The park seems more like a fancy bridge than a park.
 
This project is among the highest-quality high-rise developments in the city at the moment. It'll leave a mark on the city for generations.

But somehow, it seems kind of forgettable too. It's another glass tower in a sea of glass towers. By contrast, the MINT towers distinguished themselves with black steel and bronze windows, silver stainless steel, white marble (now white glass), and red-brown granite.

The monumental entrance canopy adds a lot of interest, yet it also feels tacked on. The park seems more like a fancy bridge than a park.

Pretty much each and every one of the MINT towers built between the 60s-89s were driven by the banks and designed to impress and stand out; the banks are basically just tenants in these new towers, developed by real estate conglomerates (pension-fund owned) with a focus on the bottom line.

AoD
 
This project is among the highest-quality high-rise developments in the city at the moment. It'll leave a mark on the city for generations.

But somehow, it seems kind of forgettable too. It's another glass tower in a sea of glass towers. By contrast, the MINT towers distinguished themselves with black steel and bronze windows, silver stainless steel, white marble (now white glass), and red-brown granite.

The monumental entrance canopy adds a lot of interest, but it also looks tacked on. The park seems more like a fancy bridge than a park.
Agreed, it's one of our best buildings for sure. I'd argue the diamond pattern and shape help to distinguish them from being just another glass tower.

Unfortunately, they will just get lost in the shuffle along with all our other gorgeous bank towers when the current developments and proposals nearby swallow them up in the skyline.
 
In fairness, I bet a very large percentage of Canadians aren't familiar with the Renault logo, so they can kinda get away with it.
...but some of us Canadians do, since it's been brought up a few times around here. Which may become an issue.
 
Agreed, it's one of our best buildings for sure. I'd argue the diamond pattern and shape help to distinguish them from being just another glass tower.

Unfortunately, they will just get lost in the shuffle along with all our other gorgeous bank towers when the current developments and proposals nearby swallow them up in the skyline.

This maybe an unpopular opinion - fundamentally I think this building on its own (minus the amenities like the park) is far more conservative and less interesting than the old big 5 (6 if you count BCE/CT) towers we had previously. The diamond pattern is eye-catching but really just a slight variation of the typical unitized curtain wall clad tower we had everywhere else over the past 20 years. There is not a lot of delicacy in the external materials and most certainly not the form of the tower itself (it's basically a slab) - no triangular floor plate like RBP; no tapering polygonal floor plan like CT at BCE.

AoD
 
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Commerce Court and FCP are pretty conservative buildings overall as well. They do have some upgraded cladding choices, or at least FCP did initially, but otherwise are pretty tame. The extended triangular bracing initially proposed at the base of Commerce Court, which was the "unique" element of that building was axed prior to construction.
 
Commerce Court and FCP are pretty conservative buildings overall as well. They do have some upgraded cladding choices, or at least FCP did initially, but otherwise are pretty tame. The extended triangular bracing initially proposed at the base of Commerce Court, which was the "unique" element of that building was axed prior to construction.

In terms of built form, sure - but like you have said they made up for it with materials - stainless steel in the case of CC and Carrara marble at FCP. Hard to imagine any pension-fund developers reaching to that level now.

AoD
 
Wasn't there a fair bit of interest (half a century ago!) in Commerce Court's height to width ratio from the engineering/architectural communities?

I realize it's downright chubby now with the proliferation of pencil towers...
 
Wasn't there a fair bit of interest (half a century ago!) in Commerce Court's height to width ratio from the engineering/architectural communities?

I realize it's downright chubby now with the proliferation of pencil towers...

Only chubby when compared to residential point towers - it's no worse than CIBC Square (nevermind the proposed Union Park.

AoD
 
This maybe an unpopular opinion - fundamentally I think this building on its own (minus the amenities like the park) is far more conservative and less interesting than the old big 5 (6 if you count BCE/CT) towers we had previously. The diamond pattern is eye-catching but really just a slight variation of the typical unitized curtain wall clad tower we had everywhere else over the past 20 years. There is not a lot of delicacy in the external materials and most certainly not the form of the tower itself (it's basically a slab) - no triangular floor plate like RBP; no tapering polygonal floor plan like CT at BCE.

AoD
Technically only Commerce Court was built by and for a bank. FCP was O&Y (later Brookfield), Royal Bank Plaza was Y&R (later Oxford), and TD Centre was the Bronfmans / Fairview (working closely with the Lamberts).
 
Technically only Commerce Court was built by and for a bank. FCP was O&Y (later Brookfield), Royal Bank Plaza was Y&R (later Oxford), and TD Centre was the Bronfmans / Fairview (working closely with the Lamberts).

I believe the banks were the owners of their HQ buildings (until the early 2000s, I think)?

AoD
 
This maybe an unpopular opinion - fundamentally I think this building on its own (minus the amenities like the park) is far more conservative and less interesting than the old big 5 (6 if you count BCE/CT) towers we had previously. The diamond pattern is eye-catching but really just a slight variation of the typical unitized curtain wall clad tower we had everywhere else over the past 20 years. There is not a lot of delicacy in the external materials and most certainly not the form of the tower itself (it's basically a slab) - no triangular floor plate like RBP; no tapering polygonal floor plan like CT at BCE.

AoD
I think that the CIBC Tower looks quite nice, and it's quite memorable. It may be a variation of the standard condo towers, but I think they've done a good job with it. It also seems to have higher-quality material than most other development, which helps.

The beauty of simplicity, as they say.
 

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