Toronto | KING Toronto | 57.6m | 16s | Westbank | Bjarke Ingels Group | Page 79

neuhaus · Sep 17, 2021

It was a very simple and casual open house event. No formal presentation or announcements were made, but it was a chance to see the exterior construction and finishes up close in person.
The mock-up can only be viewed on the outside as there is nothing on the inside (just wood and steel construction holding up the structure). There was a live band performing on and around the mock-up, a ballet performance from GOH Ballet, and wine & canapés served.

The quality and robustness of the materials and level of detail were impressive. The glass block walls feature a mirrored back coating (where it's a solid wall and not a window) which creates a nice luminance and depth in the sunlight. The windows and doors are triple glazed 6mm low-iron argon-filled glass that looks to be twice as thick as your typical condo glazing (like something you see on an office building) and excellent for sound insulation, in addition to being extremely energy efficient.

Rimsky44 · Sep 17, 2021

That looks great and hope it turns out well. Practically speaking, how well does it insulate, and do you need to re-seal/caulk every [x] years (what is that [x]) figure? Assumed it's covered in condo fees, but curious if it's higher maintenance or not.

neuhaus · Sep 17, 2021

Rimsky44 said:
That looks great and hope it turns out well. Practically speaking, how well does it insulate, and do you need to re-seal/caulk every [x] years (what is that [x]) figure? Assumed it's covered in condo fees, but curious if it's higher maintenance or not.

The reserve fund study will determine the lifespan/maintenance for the glass block wall which is factored into the maintenance fees.
The glass block itself is a much more energy efficient material than spandrel panel as it is a much thicker and stronger material with a generous sealed airspace that’s filled with argon, from what I remembered when seeing the production of the glass blocks specifically for this building.

tzchn · Sep 20, 2021

neuhaus said:
The glass block walls feature a mirrored back coating (where it's a solid wall and not a window) which creates a nice luminance and depth in the sunlight.

that's a bit disappointing. so it'll be reflective instead of translucent? different than what the inspiration was from:

neuhaus · Sep 21, 2021

Some parts of the glass block wall will be translucent instead of reflective, but not all of it.
The spirit/inspiration of Mason de Verre is still there and strong.

emphur · Sep 24, 2021

tzchn said:
that's a bit disappointing. so it'll be reflective instead of translucent? different than what the inspiration was from:

neuhaus said:
Some parts of the glass block wall will be translucent instead of reflective, but not all of it.
The spirit/inspiration of Mason de Verre is still there and strong.

It's also visible in the documents here. I decided to do something a little bit extra though.

There's not many renders of this feature in action, but I'm a huge fan of glass block architecture. So since I'm a 3d visualization artist by trade, I thought I'd use some early glass block texture prototypes I'm crafting to show how these glass block screens will look outside and inside.

For legal reasons, these are not affiliated with or made by any architects, developers, or those involved with marketing KING Toronto, they are just my personal artistic interpretations of what the architects are going for and do not represent KING Toronto.

Which is why they are largely unfinished.
These are also rendered on low settings, as these are meant for demonstration purposes, not aesthetics.

I could go on about specifics here, but these blocks are mocked to the specs shown in the photos above, using the thin ribbed texture for light diffusion. Documents and renders suggest the openings will be sized as shown here. You can see earlier texture prototypes on the right hand side (where it looks worse).

An angle that's not been shown in renderings (that I can recall) is the glass block walls from inside. Rooms won't get two block walls like this, but it works well for showcasing it. The textures here aren't polished again, as it's for demonstration purposes only.