While people and traffic stream by, construction continues throughout the site of Brookfield Properties’ Bay Adelaide Centre East, the second phase of the three-tower development that is the Bay Adelaide Centre office complex.

Crane working on heritage facace at Bay Adelaide Tower East, image by Matthew Lavoie

Earlier this year Brookfield Properties undertook the daunting task of dismantling the façade of a heritage commercial brick building at the south east corner of the property at Yonge and Adelaide, and are now moving it north to Yonge and Temperance, where it is replacing the PostModern façade of the pre-existing building on the site. The preservation is meticulous, yet progressing steadily with the majority of the façade assembled and tied into an underlying steel beam structure. Further structural and cosmetic work including the installation of window glazing is required before the scaffold can be disassembled.

Hertiage facade preservation underway, image by Matthew Lavoie

The relocated and reassembled heritage facade will stand across the street from the celebrated restoration of the beautiful Dineen Building, situated across from it on the north side of Temperance Street.

The heritage facade going up across from The Dineen Building, image by Matthew Lavoie

The pre-existing building on Yonge (which for several years housed an Addition Elle store at ground level while the top floors hold ventilation equipment for the Bay Adelaide Centre garage) has had its south third completely demolished. Crews are now preparing foundations for the new east tower's 6-storey podium that is set to be constructed there. With that portion of the building gone, we are granted views of the impressive mechanical guts in the upper storeys that will be hidden behind the heritage façade.

Mechanical ventilation equipment behind the heritage facade, image by Matthew Lavoie

Slated to be complete in 2016, the KPMB Architects and Adamson Associates Architects-designed Bay Adelaide Centre East is set to be an impressive sight, mixing modern and elegant glass finishes with a piece of Toronto's past.

Want to know more about the Bay Adelaide Centre East? Click our dataBase file, linked below, for more information about the project, including many more renderings. Also, check out the associated Forum thread or leave your thoughts in the comments section below. UrbanToronto will continue to provide updates on the progress of construction.