Toronto The Mercer | 111.55m | 33s | Beaverhall | BBB

[modernizt]

Absolutely. I can't remember where to find the video that I'm thinking of in particular, but there are already automatized construction machines that do things such as bricklaying and panel installation. A huge opportunity in the construction industry that is without a doubt going to take hold in the future.

 

[interchange42]

In the meantime, precast works pretty well. The quality has improved, it can be stained, and it easier to maintain than brick in the long-run.

42

 

[urbandreamer]

6 March 2014

 

[urbandreamer]

22 March 2014: Looks like regular old glazing to me....

 

[Ramako]

Looks like they'll be painting the pre-cast faux brick panels. Does it really cost that much more to just use real brick?

 

[innsertnamehere]

At these heights, yes. The entire brick facade needs scaffolding and when you have 30 floors of brick that gets expensive very quickly.

 

[modernizt]

Looks like they'll be painting the pre-cast faux brick panels. Does it really cost that much more to just use real brick?

There are less and less bricklayers all the time. It's a dying art, and amazingly, it's still cheaper to do the whole song-and-dance of applying stamped precast and then staining it. It's a matter of labour in addition to the material cost itself.

 

[Ramako]

At these heights, yes. The entire brick facade needs scaffolding and when you have 30 floors of brick that gets expensive very quickly.

I presume they could use the same climbing system employed at Pinnacle on Adelaide, shown here, or whatever system was used at Vu or Treviso.

There are less and less bricklayers all the time. It's a dying art, and amazingly, it's still cheaper to do the whole song-and-dance of applying stamped precast and then staining it. It's a matter of labour in addition to the material cost itself.

I keep hearing that, yet we're seeing more and more developments that feature real brick all the time: Vu, East Lofts, Casa, 650 King, The Modern, 8 Gladstone, The King East, Market Wharf, Charlie, RCMI, The Berczy, B.streets, One32 Berkeley, Motion, Treviso, Q Loft, Pinnacle on Adelaide, Peter Street Condos, oneeleven, The Harlowe, etc. Most of these aren't high-end buildings either. Someone out there seem to be getting their fair share of bricklaying orders.

 

[NBGtect]

A dying art? That's sounds so dramatic and semi-convincing. Of course that's not true. Perhaps maybe bricklayers of European origin have diminished, but Asian bricklayers are on the rise. The reason why some developers don't use them (like plaza corp) is cost.

 

[interchange42]

What 's the problem with using precast "brick" panels and then staining them? Down go the maintenance costs.

42

 

[Ramako]

What 's the problem with using precast "brick" panels and then staining them? Down go the maintenance costs.

42

I don't so much mind the precast brick panels that look like real three-dimensional brick (like on the Mercer's east and south façade, or at the Florian), but in UD's photo above if you peer slightly down Mercer Street, you can see a frame of precast brick panelling on the tower's podium which is very obviously two-dimensional (like at Boutique), which looks goofy.

 

[Torontovibe]

What 's the problem with using precast "brick" panels and then staining them? Down go the maintenance costs.

42

The problem is the colour of the stained brick looks wrong, at least in Liberty Village it does. It doesn't look like natural brick to me. Will the colour not fade in time and will the condo corp maintain the brick stain or will they save money by letting it fade? Natural brick seems to keep its colour even when it gets old but I don't have much faith in the cheap stained ones. I think the precast, coloured brick is a safer bet to look good over the long haul.

 

[Ramako]

The problem is the colour of the stained brick looks wrong, at least in Liberty Village it does. It doesn't look like natural brick to me. Will the colour not fade in time and will the condo corp maintain the brick stain or will they save money by letting it fade? Natural brick seems to keep its colour even when it gets old but I don't have much faith in the cheap stained ones. I think the precast, coloured brick is a safer bet to look good over the long haul.

I'm confident that the unit owners would maintain the colour. Even though it's only superficial, the fading would make the building look run down to the outside observer and could harm the value of their units.

 

[urbandreamer]

27 March 2014: Kinda washed out--still getting used to the Galaxy Camera 2's settings

Next time I'll stick to auto mode.

 

[DarkSideDenizen]

Mercer at lower right popping up:

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