The bulk of the skyscrapers rising in Toronto these days are designed with a tower and podium massing, and not everyone knows that this design is preferred by the City for a couple reasons, one being that podium levels stop wind that races down the face of a building from getting to sidewalk level and blowing pedestrians off their feet. Where there is no podium, like here on the Bay Street side of the CIBC SQUARE North Tower, under construction in this image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Johnny Au, the building (like its older sibling to the south) is designed with a canopy that will catch down-blasts of wind and divert them horizontally instead, where they will dissipate,

Crew members work on the canopy at the CIBC SQUARE North Tower, image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Johnny Au

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