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AUGUST 2018 | 57 CN Tower Observation Level Renovation PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY MACKAYWONG; CUMULUS ARCHITECTS INC. operational; being obliged to trans- port all materials and crews in a single bank of elevators daily; and ensuring both crews and Torontonians 1,136- feet below would remain safe when the tower's windows were replaced. Removing the existing windows was completed with the use of the tow- er's exterior maintenance cage, but Cheyanne Hammell, project manager for PCL, explains that due to weight limitations of the cage, the new win- dow installation was completed from the interior. "And to keep everyone safe and to prevent debris from falling to the ground, we created an engineered, 14-foot exterior tarp system that was anchored by welding it into the wall structure once the siding was removed." The glass panels, each of which mea- sured five-by-eight feet and weighed 1,000 pounds, were brought up from the service level by elevator; the new glazing frame was installed from the interior, followed by the glass, which contains Thermochromic film that allows the glass to adjust its darkness based on sunlight and external temperature, in order to improve energy efficiency and make it easier to take photos. Hammell and her colleagues demol- ished the restaurant down to the studs and slab. "As is the case with so many renovations, the original documents weren't always clear, so there was always something unexpected to deal with – but nothing spectacular," she says. "Design changes as a result of the demolition included opening up the ceilings by about a metre in some areas, which meant existing services had to be rejigged." Peter Lee, senior associate with Mulvey & Banani, says one of the big- gest challenges of the entire upgrade was time. "We only had a few months to get everything done, and even with the two phases we still worked a lot of nights, scrambling to restore every- thing for the morning's new wave of guests." Lee says the lighting concept was intended to draw people out towards the observation windows, and thanks to the mirrored panels "there was no need to light in daylight. By contrast at night our lighting scheme would turn the white surfaces into beautiful canvases." As for travelling up and down the elevator daily, Lee says, "If contrac- tors were unfortunate enough to forget something in their truck, it was enor- mously time consuming to wait for a spare elevator, descend over 1,000 feet, grab the item, and then go all the way back up. And although the elevators were quite large, the contractors still had to dismantle equipment for the trip up and down." But for those who got the first look at the revamped CN Tower on June 26, all the efforts were well worth it. "It's as if we stitched the CN Tower back into the fabric of Toronto," says Mackay. "It was an honour to reshape this iconic environment." Neil Jones, chief operating officer at CN Tower who welcomed the guests, summarized the sentiment of Canada Lands Company by saying: "The CN Tower enjoyed record-breaking atten- dance last year, but we believe it is important to keep innovating. As a national icon, the experiences we offer our guests should always be at world- class levels. We feel this renovation accomplishes that goal." A ENGIE MultiTech A leading Mechanical & Electrical contractor in the Greater Toronto Area. The Company provides mechanical and electrical solutions from start to nish with over 500 skilled trade Electricians and Mechanics. We work hand in hand with clients, designers and engineers to develop projects and deliver trouble free installations that meet expectations and overall project performance standards. For more information please contact: Dave Anderson Dave.Anderson@engie.com businessdevelopment.esc@ engie.com ENGIE MultiTech Ltd. 2025 Meadowvale Blvd., Unit #2, Mississauga, ON. L5N 0A6 Tel: 905-812-7900 Fax: 905-812-7909 www.engiemultitech.com FM36217.indd 1 2018-07-25 10:52 AM

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