Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/178323
COURTESY CONCORD ADEX INC. CityPlace – Parade II by Luigi Benetton oronto's CityPlace ranks among the most ambitious collections of highrise residential developments anywhere. And developer Concord Adex Inc. put the most ambitious touch in all of CityPlace between the existing Parade I condo and its fraternal twin, the more recently built Parade II. Parade II, originally known as Block 29, consists of a cylindrical, 42-storey tower, plus a 24-storey tower and 10-storey podium. It shares this layout with the neighbouring Parade I, also known as Block 26 West, with a few minor differences: Block 29's towers exceed those of 26 by four storeys each while 26's main tower shape is square, not round. Most twins separate once they're born, but Concord Adex will keep these two connected with shared indoor amenity spaces, plus matching exterior materials and colours, like the glass and metal on the towers and the precast, detailing and colour on the podium level. Pedestrian mews running between the two buildings will be lanked by 7,000 square feet of retail on either side and feature a substantial piece of public art. Each twin gets a separate walkout second- loor terrace space that caters to sunbathers and barbecuers alike, while the area below the terrace shelters loading bays, garbage facilities and the ramp leading down to a shared garage. Differing heights mean that Block 29 will house 921 suites, almost 100 more than Block 26 West's 835. The extra suites came about, in part, due to a late granting of extra density by the City of Toronto to the CityPlace project, which Concord Adex applied to Block 29. "The uneven heights add to the iconic nature of the whole," says Tim Gorley, executive vicepresident of Page + Steele/IBI Group Architects. Nearly identical project teams brought both buildings into being. Different interior designers brought different sensibilities to elements like the lobbies. "26 West has a more classic, timeless type of design," says Jeff Wilkinson, project manager for Concord Adex. "29 is more modern, a little edgier." Residents will host parties in a 28th- loor Skybridge that will join the two towers. Guests can gaze south towards Lake Ontario, north towards the city, or straight down through ive three-foot by ive-foot glass panels in the loor. The bridge also connects the buildings at the 29th and 30th loors. "A three-storey apartment connects on either side to the second loor and the roof level of the bridge, all T CityPlace – Parade II p.92-95CityPlace_Nanaimo Regional.indd 93 destined for private use," says Gorley. The team considered three scenarios for building this bridge. Using mobile cranes to hoist pieces into position and building the bridge in place would have left the team with several concerns. "It isn't a very safe option," says Wilkinson, noting the team's refusal to stage construction on the alreadyoccupied Block 26 West. "You'd be totally at the mercy of the weather. Your exposure for delay is huge." Building the bridge on the ground and hoisting it into place using a mobile crane wouldn't have worked either; the crane would have crushed the road it sat on. Instead, the bridge structure and cladding took shape on scaffolding that kept the structure more than two storeys above the ground. With the exterior assembled in June, the project team set a lift date during the week of June 25, a period during which wind studies show the weather has historically been calm enough to allow for the eight-hour hoisting and hookup operation. Strand jacks at the top of each tower lifted the bridge into place. "The amenity and suite it-up will follow and be ready by November 2012," says Gorley. Romeo Llamzon calls the bridge a "one-of-a-kind" in Canada, the type of project that demanded extra planning, scheduling and engineering, plus dealing with a few changes as the bridge took shape. The team realized the slabon-grade setup would not support the Skybridge as it "gained weight." "It would exceed allowable soilbearing capacity," says Llamzon, project manager for PCL Constructors Canada Inc. in Toronto. "We had to perform extensive reshoring in each of the three levels of the underground parking garage," noting that the operation took up 22 parking spots per loor in Block 26 West. AUGUST 2012 /93 7/13/12 10:44 AM