The L Tower (also known as the Libeskind Tower) is a residential skyscraper in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, which was designed by architect

Daniel Libeskind Daniel Libeskind (born May 12, 1946) is a Polish–American architect, artist, professor and set designer. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. He is known for the design a ...

. The project, which broke ground in mid-October 2009, saw many delays. One cause for delay was a stop-work order caused by safety concerns about the crane at the top of the building. The crane was also considered an eyesore by many residents. Despite the cranes (which were removed by May 2016 and September 2018 respectively), the building still won the eighth place

Emporis Skyscraper Award The Emporis Skyscraper Award was an award for architectural excellence regarding the design of buildings and their functionality. The award was presented annually by Emporis, a real estate data mining company with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. ...

in 2017. In the 2000s, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (then known as the Hummingbird Centre) was expected to be demolished and the land sold. However, Hummingbird Centre CEO Dan Brambilla convinced the city to preserve the site and approve the condo development.

Developers

The building is being developed by three builders: Cityzen and Castlepoint Numa of Toronto, and Fernbrook Homes of

Concord, Ontario Concord is a suburban industrial district in the Vaughan, City of Vaughan in Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, York Region, located north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. According to the Canada 2001 Census, 2001 Census, Concord has 8,255 resi ...

Sony Plaza and public art

The Sony Plaza is an open space elevated above the intersection of Yonge and Front streets. It is being designed by Claude Cormier and Associates. Canadian artist Harley Valentine is creating a triptych of sculptures to be installed in the Sony Plaza. Called ''

Dream Ballet A dream ballet, in musical theater, is an all-dance, no-singing production number that reflects the Theme (visual arts), themes of the production. The Plot (narrative), plot, themes, and character (arts), characters are typically the same—althou ...

'' in hommage to the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca, the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

's four-decade residence at the site, the three sculptures depict abstracted ballet dancers in various dynamic positions.

Award

In 2017, the L Tower was awarded an

in the number 8 spot, in the category of best new skyscraper.

Controversies

In June 2015, Ontario's Ministry of Labour began investigating the L Tower's work site due to complaints about its partially assembled crane. A stop-work order was issued, and engineering reports were ordered to confirm the crane was structurally sound before continuing work; due at the end of July, these reports were not provided. The crane's operator resigned after he felt his concerns that the crane could collapse were being ignored by the construction manager, and the business manager of IUOE Local 793 stated: "We don’t believe we should be rolling the dice on a custom-made lifting device over the heads of the good people of Toronto." In February 2018, former members of a number of condominium boards—including L Tower—were accused of misusing funds, resulting in litigation. Two members of the L Tower's condominium board resigned as a result. In July 2021, the crane atop the condo tower collapsed. The crane, a building maintenance unit, with its purpose for window cleaning toppled when its 20,000 lb. counterweight fell. The windows of the L Tower have not been washed ever since, as reported by its residents. Reports said the crash had left significant damage to the Meridian Hall Arts Centre adjacent to the condominium, which was later found to be incorrect.

References

External links