Tall & Urban News

Just over three years ago, a surface parking lot southeast of Union Station began its transformation into the first of two towers, part of the most significant office development built in Downtown Toronto since the 1990s. The 52-story south tower of Hines and Ivanhoé Cambridge's CIBC SQUARE office complex—designed by UK-based WilkinsonEyre Architects in collaboration with Adamson Associates—now stands at its full height of 241.3 meters as cladding installation bring the tower closer to its final form.

Construction of the project has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, halting tenant interior and amenity work until restrictions were lifted late in May. 

While many restrictions have been lifted as the pandemic loosens its grip, work has been scaled back to keep crews safe, with approximately 60 percent of the planned workforce operating on site to maintain social distancing. 

Within the tower, work is ramping up on the installation of drywall, mechanical, and electrical components, as well as the elevators. Mechanical components now in place at the top of the tower include the primary roof plant air handling units, boilers, and pumps.

An expansive green roof continues to be installed atop the podium, just one of the many elements wrapping up within the lower portion of the building. On the podium's frontage on Lake Shore Boulevard, installation has begun for signage related to the GO Bus Terminal. Once complete, the new terminal will free up the site of the existing terminal to the north of the rail corridor, where the second phase of the office complex will soon be built.

North of the podium, an aerial view of the Union Station rail corridor overbuild shows the concrete base of the park complete above the steel decking, with the shapes of planting beds now being formed.

For more on this story, go to Urban Toronto.