[AHK]

October 16 - 9:30 AM, Ongoing installation, but still only appears to be a single crew on site.

 

[ushahid]

so those grey panels are permanent or will change?

 

[ProjectEnd]

They're louvers and permanent. They're only 'gray' in tone as they are indeed perforated but the spacing of the holes is too close to be read like that from afar. Too bad because it doesn't look great like this.

 

[karledice]

October 16 - 9:30 AM, Ongoing installation, but still only appears to be a single crew on site.

View attachment 604744

View attachment 604745

Wow starting to take shape
Much better to visualize the end product now

 

[DarwinP]

Going back to the cladding mockup they showed, you get a sense of how the louvers/glass blocks panels and windows play each other. The louvers do stick out a bit but the overall look may be ok.

We may also see smaller frame-like louvers around some of the windows which seem to be the exact same colour and material.

 

[70Challenger]

I never saw that cladding mockup, people aren't ready for how good this is going to look!

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

Is that one of the first of the "triangle waves" to get cladding?

...and question answered! And thanks again, @AHK! /bows

 

[officedweller]

I actually like the look of the black slatted louvres. Those screens in front will trap particles behind and require cleaning.

 

[AHK]

October 17 Updates:

1. The East Mountain has been topped off, now at full height. The remaining formwork still to come down from the upper floors will be removed once the concrete has completed its initial hardening process.

2. Glazing installation continues to pick up speed, with more sections installed each day. The eastward march along the grade level south wall has reached the point where glazing can be seen at the end of the alley between 162 and 168 Wellington West.

3. While there is still only one installation crew on site, several more crews (I believe for a total of four crews) are due to start soon.

East Mountain

South wall grade level glazing:

Looking down the alley between 162 and 160 Wellington West - a distance photo as the alley itself is closed to access:

And from further east:

 

[wopchop]

The glass blocks aren't integral to anything. It's a standard curtainwall frame with blocks mounted where you'd normally have glass or a panel.

The real leaks are going to happen at all of those transitions and interfaces. Inside corners, outside corners, stepbacks, balconies...

The glass block absolutely could fail at intermediate points. They are not one giant IGU, but a bunch of smaller glass blocks preassembled into one larger unit. So the quality control for assembly into one unit at the offshore unit fabricator itself must be much higher.

That being said, the maintenance cost will be killer as you said. The chance of leaks at the thousands of connections is huge.

Glass replacement also a big challenge. The glass block units weigh a lot more than flat glass.

 

[whatever]

The glass block absolutely could fail at intermediate points. They are not one giant IGU, but a bunch of smaller glass blocks preassembled into one larger unit. So the quality control for assembly into one unit at the offshore unit fabricator itself must be much higher.

You may have more insight than me, but I was assuming from what I saw that those frames had a fully sealed backpan behind that block "unit", so that even if the intermediate points failed you'd still have a drain path behind the unit? Not something you'd want to rely on, but to get through warranty...

You might also know, what on earth is their plan for replacement parts? Those extrusions don't exist anymore. I didn't even think they had enough in stock to finish this as it was. I'm guessing they went with this because they were never going to get an alternative in time, before Westbank's financing vaporized?

 

[wopchop]

You may have more insight than me, but I was assuming from what I saw that those frames had a fully sealed backpan behind that block "unit", so that even if the intermediate points failed you'd still have a drain path behind the unit? Not something you'd want to rely on, but to get through warranty...

Both vision and spandrel configurations exist for the glass block.

You might also know, what on earth is their plan for replacement parts? Those extrusions don't exist anymore. I didn't even think they had enough in stock to finish this as it was. I'm guessing they went with this because they were never going to get an alternative in time, before Westbank's financing vaporized?

The most likely replacement parts are obviously infill components, which are universal more or less. For the rest, not sure. If they need to, whoever is doing the job can cut new dies for the old stuff. Whomever came on board is definitely providing custom dies anyway.
The entire job was not procured nor manufactured. Not by a long shot. I'm not sure where it has landed for manufacturer.

 

[AHK]

Final update from late Friday, October 18. The installation crew was finishing up after a long day - additional sections installed. The spyder crane was being moved over to the next section in preparation for the coming weeks work. Interesting unit - it chimes and audibly announces when it initiates a change of state - starting to move, putting its legs down.

The grade level glazing is now visible from The Well.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

Final update from late Friday, October 18. The installation crew was finishing up after a long day - additional sections installed. The spyder crane was being moved over to the next section in preparation for the coming weeks work. Interesting unit - it chimes and audibly announces when it initiates a change of state - starting to move, putting its legs down.

...kinda reminds of that mecha/robotic construction gear used in a Gundam manga I read once.

 

[Civdis]

This is going to be a stunner!