Canada's Tallest U/C #11 - #30

[IntotheWest]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

I dont know why you have this notion the Vancouver maket is so small, the condo market in vancouver is huge, and has been growing prettymuch non stop since the early 90s. And yes usually it will be cheaper to build two 30 storey condos, but not by much, and if you only have to buy enough land to build one tower then it will most likely be cheaper to build one 60 storey tower... especially considering land prices in Vancouver. This also does not include the much more substantial returns a developer will see with a large tower like this, as like I mentioned before the suites can go for much mroe of a premium. However you seem to think that the Vancouver market can not handle projects of this magnitude, yet these high end condos have been selling out nearly as fast as the middle of the run condos, with the understandable exception of the penthouses. Projects like Shangri-La and Ritz are also selling at such high price per sq ft prices due to the amenities and services offered for these condos, nto just becuase they are in tall buildings. Like many similar projects, condos in these towers have full access to the consierge service of the 5 star hotels they are above, and they are outfitted, marketed and priced as such. If this market does eventually shrink, which I do see happening with the forboding signs of the world economy, the condos in tall buildings can still be sold for a premium by reducing the space and selling more units per floor, although this is most likely not necessary as the cost of building tall is not restrictive enough to price out developments in this city. Building a 60 storey average condo is assuredly viable in the hot Vancouver market, and the only thing holding it back is height restrictions, not economics.

The views from those penthouses would be worthy of the price alone, some of the best in the country - a lot of part-time residents buy those units.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Buried pipes deliver concrete to Menkes office-tower site

DAN O’REILLY

correspondent

Not only is it the first major office building to be constructed in downtown Toronto in more than a decade, the $250-million 30-storey 25 York Street project by developer/builder Menkes can be considered a prototype for innovative, smooth and fast-operating concrete pumping.

That’s because there are never any ready-mix trucks lined up on the adjacent street or cluttering up the building site.

Instead, a 700-horsepower high-pressure concrete pump sits in a parking lot across the road from the site, pumping the concrete through pipes under the road to a 110-foot-radius placing boom on the building site. This set-up ensures that crane time is freed up for other trades.

“We’ve maybe increased production by 30 per cent...” says John Neilson, senior superintendent, Menkes Construction, in assessing the success of the operation.

Approximately 55,000 cubic metres of concrete will have been poured by the time the building has been substantially completed by July 2009, he says.

Neilson credits that success to concrete pump contractor Amherst Group and, in particular to pump manager Paul Turney.

Hemmed in by the Air Canada Centre on the east, a railway line immediately to the north and by busy York Street, the logistics of the tight building site “demanded that we do something different,” says Turney.

On the west side of York Street is a parking lot used as the staging area for the pump operation.

“It’s absolutely doable,” he recalls telling forming contractor Premform Limited and Menkes officials when he originally made the proposal. The developer quickly bought into the idea and was able to arrange the use of parking lot with the co-operation of the owners.

Obtaining approvals from city officials, however, to bury pipes under the street took some time. Finally those approvals were given and then one Saturday last summer, three pipes were installed under York Street by site services contractor VIPE while still keeping the road partially opened, says Turney.

Concrete is pumped through one main line, while the second line serves as a backup and the third is a spare, says Turney.

Amherst spent $800,000 purchasing the German-manufactured pump and place boom, and the peripheral equipment that runs pipelines specifically for this project, but actually used it first on the 10.4-kilometre-long 14.4 metre-diameter concrete lined tunnel constructed at the Sir Adam Beck Generating Complex in Queenston.

While an expensive investment, the efficient fast-operating system requires just one person on the pump and a second to manoeuvre the on-site boom. Only about five to six minutes are required for a truck to unload the concrete into the pump. Some support labour is required when it comes time to raise the boom to another floor, he says.

“We have a real production line going here,” says Turney, who believes the operation is saving the developer time and money. Approximately 200 to 300 metres of concrete can be poured during an eight-hour working day.

^ That's a good idea.

Of course the likelihood of having a surface parking lot across the street from a project is plummeting, and in Vancouver those practically do not exist anymore, but when they are available they should help accelerate construction schedules and keep busy streets flowing. I assume most large projects pump concrete these days instead of luffing buckets.

[caltrane74]

Minto is almost finished. - A couple more months and its off the list.







GreatBigC on www.flickr.com

[shappy]

Minto turned out beautifully. It's very striking from the street.

[caltrane74]

Yes, Minto is sweet!

Too bad, there won't be more tall towers in this node for a while.

[caltrane74]

The verve condo..courtesy of current

www.skyscrapercity.com

[craner]

[QUOTE=caltrane74;3399334]11. Niagara Hilton - Reno 177 Meters ( Niagara Falls)
12.Centennial Place 176.0 Meters (Calgary)
13. Jamison Place 170 Meters (Calgary)
14. Absolute Wold 167 Meters (Mississauga)- picture above
15. ArriVa 44 - 160 Meters (Calgary)
15 Minto Midtown 160 Meters (Toronto)
15. Uptown Residences - Yorkville 160 Meters (Toronto)
18. Success Tower 157 Meters (Toronto)
18 Toronto International Film Festival Tower 157 Meters (Toronto)
20. Residences at Hotel Georgia 156 Meters (Vancouver)
21. Absolute World 2 (151 Meters)
22. Fairmont Pacific Rim 140 Meters (Vancouver)
23. Murano South Tower 140 Meters (Toronto)
24. Epcor Tower 139.0 Meters (Edmonton)
25. Casa 138 Meters (Toronto)
26. The X Condominium 137 Meters (Toronto)
26. Montage -Cityplace 137 Meters (Toronto)
28. Telus Tower 136 Meters (Toronto)
29. Astoria on Tenth 130 Meters (Calgary)
30. Crystal Blu Condominiums 129 Meters (Toronto)
31. Capitol Residences 126 Meters (Vancouver)
31. Luna Vista 126 Meters (Toronto)
33. Patina 125 Meters (Vancouver)
34. Five West East Tower 124 Meters (Calgary)
35. W Building 121 Meters (Vancouver)
36. Le 400 Sherbrooke Ouest 120 Meters (Montreal)
36. Verve 120 Meters (Toronto)

I don't know what the "offiial" criteria is for being on this list (if any), but #34 "Five West" (Calgary) is basically completed construction by the looks of it and should probably come off the list. Now we have to get a few more Calgary proposals U/C to replace it

[francely57]

Originally Posted by craner

I don't know what the "offiial" criteria is for being on this list (if any), but #34 "Five West" (Calgary) is basically completed construction by the looks of it and should probably come off the list. Now we have to get a few more Calgary proposals U/C to replace it

So I guess it would become:

11. Niagara Hilton - Reno 177 Meters ( Niagara Falls)
12.Centennial Place 176.0 Meters (Calgary)
13. Jamison Place 170 Meters (Calgary)
14. Absolute Wold 167 Meters (Mississauga)- picture above
15. ArriVa 44 - 160 Meters (Calgary)
15 Minto Midtown 160 Meters (Toronto)
15. Uptown Residences - Yorkville 160 Meters (Toronto)
18. Success Tower 157 Meters (Toronto)
18 Toronto International Film Festival Tower 157 Meters (Toronto)
20. Residences at Hotel Georgia 156 Meters (Vancouver)
21. Absolute World 2 (151 Meters)
22. Fairmont Pacific Rim 140 Meters (Vancouver)
23. Murano South Tower 140 Meters (Toronto)
24. Epcor Tower 139.0 Meters (Edmonton)
25. Casa 138 Meters (Toronto)
26. The X Condominium 137 Meters (Toronto)
26. Montage -Cityplace 137 Meters (Toronto)
28. Telus Tower 136 Meters (Toronto)
29. Astoria on Tenth 130 Meters (Calgary)
30. Crystal Blu Condominiums 129 Meters (Toronto)
31. Capitol Residences 126 Meters (Vancouver)
31. Luna Vista 126 Meters (Toronto)
33. Patina 125 Meters (Vancouver)
(eliminated)
34. W Building 121 Meters (Vancouver)
35. Le 400 Sherbrooke Ouest 120 Meters (Montreal)
35. Verve 120 Meters (Toronto)



Montreal's tallest U/C, with the surrounding density, March 13, 2008



More density

[WhipperSnapper]

what's up with patina?

[Delirium]

good point. why is it marked as 'eliminated'?

a second crane was recently installed a couple weeks ago -

photo by subdube

[francely57]

Originally Posted by goodlookin'

what's up with patina?

Originally Posted by Delirium

good point. why is it marked as 'eliminated'?

Oh, it's not about Patina, I just "eliminated" Five West East Tower (#34), because craner said it is basically completed.

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by Softee

Here's a slightly crooked shot I snapped through the window of the bus last weekend.

from softee posted at www.urbantoronto.ca

Minto Yonge and Eglinton

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by dt_toronto_geek

Verve Condo

courtesy of dt toronto geek

www.urbantoronto.ca

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by Mike in TO

More March 24th:



Window Installer:

Murano from Mike in TO

www.urbantoronto.ca

[Stephen Ave]

Wow, Toronto is just kicking butt in the high rise department. I can only imagine what it would be like in the midst of a building boom.

[Stephen Ave]

Originally Posted by Kevin_foster

Sorry to step in here.. but emporis database reports:

Calgary 221 High Rise
Edmonton 235 High Rise

Calgary - 21 U/C
Edmonton - 8 U/C

When all is finished being built - Calgary will apparently have one more tower than Edmonton. See emporis.com for their definition of Tower.

Those figure are way outdated. I don't know about Edmonton, but the Calgary numbers are incorrect. Calgary actually has many more high rise buildings u/c than Emporis lists. When the high rise buildings over 12 storeys that are u/c right now are finished, Calgary will have 6 more. Not that it matters, anyway. 12 storeys is just an arbitrary number that Emporis uses. If you use 20 storeys as a comparison, than Calgary has twice as many. The comparisons could go on forever.

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by Stephen Ave

Wow, Toronto is just kicking butt in the high rise department. I can only imagine what it would be like in the midst of a building boom.

Me too. We are in a really shitty economy here right now. Construction is one of the few bright spots. Lots and I mean Lots of jobs, but people still don't feel good about entering the trades for some reason.

Thankfully my little cousin is almost finished his apprenticeship. He will do quite well.

[wild wild west]

Originally Posted by Stephen Ave

Those figure are way outdated. I don't know about Edmonton, but the Calgary numbers are incorrect. Calgary actually has many more high rise buildings u/c than Emporis lists. When the high rise buildings over 12 storeys that are u/c right now are finished, Calgary will have 6 more. Not that it matters, anyway. 12 storeys is just an arbitrary number that Emporis uses. If you use 20 storeys as a comparison, than Calgary has twice as many. The comparisons could go on forever.

I still don't understand the "12-storey" number in determining how many high rises a city has. 20 makes more sense. I'd actually argue that a specific height, such as 50 or 100 metres, would make more sense than a set number of floors.

[WhipperSnapper]

^The actually cutoff is a height value though ... 35 metres. However height values are hard to come by hence the 35 metres or 12 storeys.

12 storeys/ 35 metres came into being when Emporis realizing it being next to impossible to document all developments was looking for a cutoff point while, at the same time, a member was submitting a list of Minneapolis buildings that was compiled 12 storeys and above. SSP followed suit.


8 storeys is the more common the highrise cut-off based again on fire truck design

[Boris2k7]

I just realized, the first pic of Verve in post #253 makes it look a LOT like Arriva from the south.