UrbanToronto returns to our tour of the Daniels Corporation's Cinema Tower, completing our trip to the 444 condo unit construction site, our attention moves from the podium to the tower that rises from its base. Moving skyward through floors in various degrees of completion, our tour afforded us the opportunity to witness how the assemblage of concrete and metal comes together to form a vertical community.

Looking up at the south side of Cinema Tower, image by Craig White.

Our tour begins in the lower third of the tower where plumbing and window wall installation has started. Following the placement of forms, the pouring and curing of the floor slab and the subsequent removal of braces, the threading of plumbing and electrical systems can begin. After their arrival, insulation and spandrel glass are put in place in anticipation of drywall installation. Rising from the 10th floor where framing for drywall has been installed, below are photos that show the progression of construction:

Insulation being installed, image by Craig White.

Building specifications are provided by whiteprints:

Architectural specifications (whiteprints), image by Craig White.

The spandrel and vision glass cladding seen in the photo below is installed at a rate of 1.5 floors per week. Also below are the colourful aluminum panels that provide a punch of colour to the tower:

View of a recently installed window wall, image by Craig White.

Orange cladding being applied to a west facing wall, image by Craig White.

White cladding on a south facing wall of the tower, image by Craig White.

Colourful accent cladding rising up the tower, image by Craig White.

Installation of plumbing has progressed to the 22nd floor:

Plumbing installation, image by Craig White.

As we rise higher in the tower, the spaces become progressively more raw. The metal braces we see below remain in place until the concrete has cured to 95% of its final strength and are present 4 to 5 floors below the most recently poured slab. The first image shows braces in place on the 28th floor of the building while the second shows the 26th floor where the shoring has been removed:

A view of a recently poured floor, image by Craig White.

Looking south from what will soon be a condo unit, image by Craig White.

We've reached the 30th floor, now more than simply braced, but dominated by the forms used to pour the floor above it.

Form in place for the recently poured 31st floor, image by Craig White.

We arrive at the 31st floor of the tower where crews are readying to pour another floor's worth of columns and walls. Each slab requires a 6 hour concrete pour, while 48 hours are typically required to reach sufficient strength to strip and fly forms to the next floor. Meanwhile during curing, the crews utilize the day in between to form and pour the walls and columns. Given these time requirements, crews are able to pour one floor every three days. In total, 196 cubic meters of concrete is poured per floor slab, and another 130 cubic metres are poured per floor into walls and columns. Below are images showing work on the 31st floor:

Concrete pump and crane on the highest completed floor of the tower, image by Craig White.

Forms being put in place for a concrete pour, image by Craig White.

Forms in place in anticipation of a new pour, image by Craig White.

Working in tandem, the concrete pump and crane give rise to the building. Akin to a heartbeat, the most vital artery of construction is the hydraulic pump that provides a highly pressurized conduit for the liquid concrete to reach the upper floors of the tower. Following the progression of the crane upwards, the hydraulic pump moves its way up the building as new floors are added. In anticipation of a new week's worth of pours, the pump is moved into a higher position on Saturdays. Below are photos of both the concrete conduit as well as the foundation of the crane:

Looking down the shaft that holds the conduit for concrete, image by Craig White.

Supporting framework for the crane, image by Craig White.

Construction on the 43-storey Kirkor Architects designed project is slated to be completed in 2013. For more information on the project, a link to our dataBase page can be found below. To follow construction as it continues, join our Forum discussion on the project here.

As we reach the conclusion of the tour, Urban Toronto would like to thank The Daniels' Corporation for the opportunity to document the project. We would also like to thank our tour guide Peter Canale for his time and patience with all our questions.