Ever since ground was broken in Toronto's South Core area on CIBC Square in June of 2017, construction has been progressing at what appears to us to be breakneck speeds. The first phase of the WilkinsonEyre-designed complex will introduce 1.3 million ft² of new office space across 49 floors to Bay Street across from Union Station and the Scotiabank Arena.

CIBC Square construction viewed from the north, image by UT Forum contributor jaybe

Since our last update at the beginning of September, there has been significant progress on the development's most unique feature, an elevated park over the Union Station rail corridor. Work to form the deck directly above the tracks began in early May—the deck can be seen above, overlapping the east end of the Union Station train shed—but now crews have begun installing steel trusses connecting from the newly poured crash wall of the CIBC Square south building to the already constructed part of the deck. The trusses can be seen both in the image above she from an office tower, and in the one below shot via a telephoto lens from Bay Street, underneath the deck.

Steel trusses connecting the crash wall to the overhead rail deck, image by Forum contributor drum118

The park atop the deck will be available not just to workers in the first and second phases of CIBC Square, the public will also have access to this "green" amenity. The second phase north tower of the CIBC Square development will begin construction following the relocation and demolition of the current GO Bus Terminal on the site. The north tower is expected to be completed in 2023.

A rendering of the park designed by Public Work, image courtesy of Ivanhoé Cambridge

Since the beginning of September, the building's concrete elevator core has doubled in height. This impressive speed is due to the self-climbing jumpform concrete placing method which does not require the crane to raise the forms piece by piece, but instead uses rails and hydraulic jacks built into the jumpform for this task. By using this method, crews are able to both increase the speed at which the elevator core can be built and use the site's three cranes to complete other tasks.

Panorama of the CIBC Square site from the south, images by Forum contributor Michael62

In addition to raising the elevator core, a number of jobs have been completed at ground level.

The entire ground level floor slab has been completed now that the north east section has been poured and cured. This eastern portion of the site will house the ground level floor of the relocated two-storey Union GO Bus Terminal. Crews have begun work on the bus ramps leading up to and down from the upper level of the terminal. In the lower right of the image below, a grid of steel rebar is being laid where the bottom of the ramp down will be, while near the top of the photo you can see where the first part of the ramped up has been poured.

The ramps will go up to and come down from the upper level at the GO Bus Terminal here, image by UT Forum contributor Michael62

Commuters leaving or arriving by GO Bus will be able to access the new terminal via the building's PATH connections, one of which is to be built over Bay Street, connecting CIBC Square to Scotiabank Arena and then on to Union Station. Another connection will be via the Bay East Teamway under the rail corridor.

In the image below, another grid of rebar awaits concrete where a ramp will connect the underground garage plus loading and servicing space to Yonge Street. Another PATH corridor will be built atop this ramp as well, taking pedestrians towards the Pinnacle One Yonge project and other East Bayfront developments.

Steel rebar forming for GO Bus ramp, image by Forum contributor drum118

While CIBC is the anchor tenant for the 2.9-million ft² (270,000 m²) development taking 1.75-million ft² (162,580 m²), Microsoft has now signed on to lease 132,000 ft² (12,263 m²) of space in the complex.

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.