A tower crane has gone up this past weekend at the construction site of 36Hazelton, a luxury condominium in the heart of the upmarket neighbourhood of Yorkville.

The former home of St. Basil’s Catholic School is being converted by the Alterra Group and Zinc Developments into a 19-unit luxury condominium. Quadrangle Architects, along with preservation consultants Goldsmith Borgal & Company Architects, worked closely with the City of Toronto to preserve the heritage aspects of the property while responding to the client’s vision of a contemporary addition housing large, airy units paired with generous landscaped terraces.

Below is a shot of the base from last Friday, bolted to the concrete pad below and ready to support the crane's mast which would arrive the next day: the builders installed the crane on Saturday.

Shot from Friday of the crane base ready for the Saturday installation, photo by Mary Medunic

Now fully erected, the crane and its far-reaching working arm or 'jib' can be seen from afar.

36Hazelton's crane now rising over Yorkville, photo by Josh Cooper

The building's old shell will be retrofitted to accommodate a glass and zinc seven-storey build terraced back from the street and from the historic brick circa-1928 façade which will be restored and incorporated into the final design. The following photos show brightly coloured temporary steel trusses and the structural framework required to reinforce the heritage façade while construction progresses behind. 

Close up of the crane in place behind the buttressed heritage façade, photo by Josh Cooper

From the southwest corner of the site, view of the rear of the heritage façade, photo by Josh Cooper

From the northwest corner of the site, façade with the Four Seasons rising in the distance, photo by Josh Cooper

Looking for more information? Check out the project's associated dataBase page, linked below. To get involved in the discussion, please visit the 36 Hazelton Ave thread, here, or voice your opinion in the comments section below.