[AHK]

July 13 and an overview of the King Toronto cladding status with the next week about to start.

Installation of the cladding finally got underway with the replacement supplier about September 24, 2024. Installation of the first level was quite slow, with an approximate one month pause in the January 2025 period due to lack of product from the supplier (delay originally attributed due to the very cold January weather, but apparently that was not the case, it was due to supplier issues). So after almost ten months, cladding Levels 1 and 2 are complete. Cladding Level 3 is almost complete, at least as can be seen around the perimeter of the building. At this point, three visible gaps remain on Level 3, shown in the following photos:

1. South Facade, facing Wellington Street:

View attachment 665895

2. King Street Facade, East Side by East Courtyard Entrance:

View attachment 665897

3. King Street Facade - West Side by Driveway Ramp Entrance:

View attachment 665896

There may possibly be one or more missing Level 3 cladding sections within the courtyard, not visible from the perimeter of the building.

Either way, hopefully there would not be more than a few days work to complete the Level 3 cladding, and start on Level 4 - at which point all the really large, heavy and unwieldy cladding sections will have been installed, and the cladding sections for the remaining should be more manageable, and hopefully faster to install than what has transpired to date.

August 19 - Linked to the July 13th posting which showed several Level 3 sections where the King Toronto cladding was incomplete. The focus over the past while has been a) installing the Level 4 starter kit pieces, which are basically mounting caps placed on top of the existing Level 3 sections, and b) filling in the Level 3 gaps shown in more detail in the July 13 post above.

The first photos are of the section in the south facade, over the walkway through to the (to be) park on the north side of Wellington Street and to The Well. The first photos, taken Thursday of last week (August 14) are of the steel beam mounting frame, followed ones of the newly installed cladding. The last photos are of the installation crew working on filling in another one of the Level 3 gaps.

It appears there may be a bit of time before the arrival of the main Level 4 cladding sections, so other than more Level 3 infill, not expecting to see much more until the September timeframe.

 

[tstormers]

Close up of the glass block.

 

[nightstreak]

That cladding looks horrible imo, very cold & sterile & confusing to look at

The glass cladding is the base surface. It's going to be covered in vines and has a special system engineered into the structure of the building to support what'll essentially be living cladding—anything but sterile.

 

[whatever]

Kind of clever, really. When you know the wall doesn't have a snowball's chance of not leaking, plant some vines and call it part of an irrigation system for a living wall

 

[KAR246]

A few photos up close from yesterday:

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

I gotta feeling it will take decades and a dog's life before we see greenery clinging to the cladding like that. Unless they're planning on embedding something into that that will get the ball rolling on this sooner than later...

 

[nightstreak]

I gotta feeling it will take decades and a dog's life before we see greenery clinging to the cladding like that. Unless they're planning on embedding something into that that will get the ball rolling on this sooner than later...

The vegetation is a part of the engineering of the building. It’s not an afterthought, it’s a first class component of the building itself. There is plumbing for irrigation, boxes for soil built into the walls and wiring that’ll be installed along the façade to facilitate climbing growth.

Moreover the facet angles were chosen for optimum light exposure. It’s not hyperbole to say that the entire building was engineered around the vegetation.

For anyone who’s grown climbing plants, you know that it’ll take literally one season for the building to look like this. There was a PDF that showed all of the components and I’m trying to find it because I’m curious what species of plants these will be. Something like an English Ivy grows 9 to 12 feet in one season. Given that every floor will have planters, that’ll cover the building by the end of the first Summer.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

^I sure hope so. I am growing old faster than plants grow currently...so I sure would like to see this in fruition before I end up as a bed of daisies myself. >.<

 

[WHENTHAT]

The vegetation is a part of the engineering of the building. It’s not an afterthought, it’s a first class component of the building itself. There is plumbing for irrigation, boxes for soil built into the walls and wiring that’ll be installed along the façade to facilitate climbing growth.

Moreover the facet angles were chosen for optimum light exposure. It’s not hyperbole to say that the entire building was engineered around the vegetation.

For anyone who’s grown climbing plants, you know that it’ll take literally one season for the building to look like this. There was a PDF that showed all of the components and I’m trying to find it because I’m curious what species of plants these will be. Something like an English Ivy grows 9 to 12 feet in one season. Given that every floor will have planters, that’ll cover the building by the end of the first Summer.

Above the windows, I assume those are HVAC exhaust grills or could they be part of the irrigation system for the living wall? I can’t quite tell

 

[nightstreak]

Above the windows, I assume those are HVAC exhaust grills or could they be part of the irrigation system for the living wall? I can’t quite tell

If they're HVAC grills, they're going to get covered in vegetation so probably not. Ivy won't stick to glass, it needs a porous surface so I just assumed that this is what they'll be grown on and the renderings support that, all the bunching of ivy is above the windows. But you bring up a great point: where is the HVAC exhausting to? I really need to find the technical PDF that I read years ago. It showed all these details.

 

[Milaisacat]

The vegetation is a part of the engineering of the building. It’s not an afterthought, it’s a first class component of the building itself. There is plumbing for irrigation, boxes for soil built into the walls and wiring that’ll be installed along the façade to facilitate climbing growth.

Moreover the facet angles were chosen for optimum light exposure. It’s not hyperbole to say that the entire building was engineered around the vegetation.

For anyone who’s grown climbing plants, you know that it’ll take literally one season for the building to look like this. There was a PDF that showed all of the components and I’m trying to find it because I’m curious what species of plants these will be. Something like an English Ivy grows 9 to 12 feet in one season. Given that every floor will have planters, that’ll cover the building by the end of the first Summer.

I think some of the healthy skepticism is warranted as a result of Westbank frequently illustrating facades with considerable greenery that, ultimately, does not come to look anything like the renderings and plans.

By way of example, Westbank's 2010-built W43 is the main tower of the Woodwards Redevelopment project in Vancouver. The signature feature of the flatiron building are its patterned red screens that run up the height of the building. These were intended to act as trellises for climbing greenery, for which planters were located every few levels and irrigation was provided. While a little bit of greenery managed to grow and hang in there, it certainly did not achieve the lush vertical green elements that were envisioned and incorporated into the design.

Source: Henriquez Partners

Recent (July 2024) Google Streetview: https://maps.app.goo.gl/HjZPTE892Drebzrc6

Another example is Westbank's 2012-built 700 West 8th in Vancouver. Similar to W43, an integral part of the design was climbing trellises, built-in planters, and irrigation. Unlike W43, where some small elements of greenery took hold, on this building the climbing vines never managed to get established, much less become lush. Note, unlike the climbing vine approach, the lush green wall on the right side was a different system entirely: an intensive green wall.

Source: Westbank Developments

A recent (July 2024) Streetview: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SyT4X3jnQBwYHaMG9

None of this is to say that the climbing greenery for King Toronto won't succeed, I just think healthy skepticism is warranted. In other words, get to like it as-is with bare glass block and you won't be disappointed.

 

[officedweller]

Just a note that the vines on Vancouver's Deloitte Summit were all cut down earlier this year. They did not grow back.
It could have been timed with transfer of ownership of the building by Westbank.

These are Virginia Creepers (as also proposed for KING) on Vancouver's Deloitte Summit (also by Westbank) after a couple of years growth.
They are climbing up perforated metal panels.

By me Friday, Oct 4th, 2024.

Vines are doing well on the west side, not so well on the other sides.

 

[nightstreak]

I think some of the healthy skepticism is warranted as a result of Westbank frequently illustrating facades with considerable greenery that, ultimately, does not come to look anything like the renderings and plans.

By way of example, Westbank's 2010-built W43 is the main tower of the Woodwards Redevelopment project in Vancouver. The signature feature of the flatiron building are its patterned red screens that run up the height of the building. These were intended to act as trellises for climbing greenery, for which planters were located every few levels and irrigation was provided. While a little bit of greenery managed to grow and hang in there, it certainly did not achieve the lush vertical green elements that were envisioned and incorporated into the design.

Source: Henriquez Partners

Recent (July 2024) Google Streetview: https://maps.app.goo.gl/HjZPTE892Drebzrc6

Another example is Westbank's 2012-built 700 West 8th in Vancouver. Similar to W43, an integral part of the design was climbing trellises, built-in planters, and irrigation. Unlike W43, where some small elements of greenery took hold, on this building the climbing vines never manager to get established, much less become lush. Note, unlike the climbing vine approach, the lush green wall on the right side was a different system entirely: an intensive green wall.

Source: Westbank Developments

A recent (July 2024) Streetview: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SyT4X3jnQBwYHaMG9

None of this is to say that the climbing greenery for King Toronto won't succeed, I just think healthy skepticism is warranted. In other words, get to like it as-is with bare glass block and you won't be disappointed.

Fair. I think my optimism comes from a resident gardener being a part of the amenities. What else are they going to do if there isn't any vegetation? When I went to look at getting a unit, I jokingly asked how much the gardener was going to cost me in annual fees and they nervously said it was a very minor part of the condo fees — to my surprise there is a resident gardener. They insisted the ivy would happen which is where I got the PDF. It was fascinating, if anything. For example, none of the units face north. Not a single one. Units on the north side face NE and NW to optimize sunlight. I wonder if they've learned from past attempts and really went all out to make it happen on this project.

 

[interchange42]

Does anyone know when the cladding was/is supposed to be finished?

No-one is answering your multiple posts in this regard directly as you seem to be oblivious to what is being said about the cladding process in other posts, and that as this building is utterly unique and that it has been unpredictable so far, there is no answer. No one has a fIrm idea.

42

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

...Mr. 42, are we there yet?