Just over four months after One Bloor West became the first building in Toronto (and Canada) to break the 300m threshold, and a month after UrbanToronto was on site for a tour as part of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat/Council on Vertical Urbanism conference, the SkyTower at Pinnacle One Yonge has now joined the club as the country's second supertall currently under construction. Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects for Pinnacle International, the 106-story SkyTower forms the second phase of the Pinnacle One Yonge community at the foot of Yonge Street and follows the 65-story first phase, “The Prestige.” While work at One Bloor West is currently focused on creating the housing for its tuned mass damper to the highest standard, the SkyTower continues its rise and will soon overtake One Bloor West as Toronto's tallest active construction site.
Looking south, the SkyTower rose from the 96th to the 97th level on November 6, crossing the 300m threshold. The structure's twelve-sided form rises to the west of the Prestige, with the curvature of the facade featuring vertical slats and recessed balcony lines. Glazing has reached approximately the 78th floor along the northwest and northeast sides – the building tapers above where the glazing is currently installed – while installation of balcony glass is visible up to approximately the 74th floor on the north side.
Looking south towards the SkyTower (right) on the 97th floor and beyond the 300m mark, image by mburrrrr, UrbanToronto Forum contributor
A closer look below shows the installation of balcony guards with a distinctive diagonal etched or fritted pattern. The top four visible balcony levels show finished railings, while several levels below show only partial installations. The tower's white slats receive further finishing touches that are obviously intricate in the areas where they frame the balconies directly above the podium levels.
Close-up of balcony glazing and trim installation along north facade, image by mburrrrr, UrbanToronto Forum contributor
A drone view captures the SkyTower from the top floor, where concrete work is progressing and the core has reached about the 98th floor. The RCS-G rail climbing system encloses the upper three and a half floors and protects crews. Essentially, the automatic climbing system continues to hydraulically lift the formwork for the elevator shafts, independently of the crane. The tower's prestressed shear walls and tie beams are designed to withstand lateral wind loads created by the tower's extreme height and slim profile. At the bottom of the east wall, the construction elevator was recently raised to the 84th floor.
A drone view looking west at the construction site at the top of the tower, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Kotsy
Looking southeast from the street, the crane's mast sections rise up the side of the tower, forming the highest element of the site, while curtain wall glazing now encloses the tower well into its upper reaches.
Looking southeast from the slope to SkyTower and its crane, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Riseth
Last seen from a distance to the north, the SkyTower towers far above other buildings in the skyline, with the concrete pump reaching even further into the sky. The RCS-G platform and crane remain active at the summit, supporting the final stages of formwork for the final residential floors before the structure transitions into its mechanical and tuned mass damper levels.
A distant view looking east on the north facade of the SkyTower, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Thaivic
When completed, the SkyTower will reach 1,200 feet (351.85 m) in height over 106 stories and include more than 950 condominiums and a 220-room Meridien Hotel. This makes it the tallest building ever built in Canada. A third tower measuring 320.35m will be added later as a further 'supertall', while plans for Pinnacle's South Block were recently changed from an office complex to a mixed-use complex.
Approved design of Pinnacle One Yonge designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects for Pinnacle International
UrbanToronto will continue to monitor the progress of this development, but in the meantime you can learn more in our database file linked below. If you'd like, you can join the discussion in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the designated area on this page.
* * *
UrbanToronto's research and data service, UTPro, provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe – from proposal to completion. Other services include instant reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from the first application.
| Related companies: |
A&H Tuned Mass Dampers, Bousfields, BVGlazing Systems, Doka Canada Ltd./Ltee, Egis, Gradient Wind Engineers & Scientists, Grounded Engineering Inc., Hariri Pontarini Architects, Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, Motioneering, New Release Condo, Peter McCann Architectural Models Inc., RWDI Climate and Performance Engineering |