Michael Sucharda, Civil Engineering and Management Class of 2017, is helping transform Toronto’s landscape. He works for EllisDon as a Project Coordinator for a two-tower commercial development in downtown Toronto called CIBC Square. The buildings will serve as office space and will include an elevated public park, a new Union Station GO bus terminal, as well as retail space, a fitness centre, and a PATH pedestrian bridge connection.
The project is significant for Toronto as it will be a state-of-the-art business campus in a highly visible location of the city. With an esteemed Bay St. address, all of its features and amenities will offer picturesque views both of and from the park, and position Toronto excellently to bring in new business from around the globe.
The elevated park will be the first elevated park in Toronto. Spanning across the railway corridor immediately east of Union Station, the park will be one acre in size and be located four levels above the street. The park will provide much-needed green space to the heavily developed urban core of Toronto.
Michael works specifically on the elevated public park and the PATH pedestrian bridge. Both sub-projects are bridges, which span over the railway corridor and Bay St. respectively. All construction activities related to the park, from foundation drilling and structural steel hoisting to landscaping, cannot interfere or delay even a single train. This is a very tall order when you consider there are 16 tracks and hundreds of trains with over 100,000 passengers each day arriving and departing Union Station. This part of the project requires very close coordination with Metrolinx, among other important stakeholders, to ensure the construction of the park continues without impacting any train services.
Similarly, the construction of the pedestrian bridge over Bay St. cannot interfere with events being held at Scotiabank Arena (formerly Air Canada Centre). This means the work must be scheduled during off-peak hours and outside of the hockey and basketball seasons. This poses challenges for seasonally sequencing the work and phasing to permit public access through the construction area.
If all that wasn’t enough, the project stands out through its sustainable design. Targeting LEEDTM Platinum and WELLTM specifications, the building will be fitted with high-efficiency water and energy systems, as well as cutting-edge air quality and ventilation, 500+ bicycle racks, and more. Furthermore, the building will have electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and has earned WIREDTM Platinum certification for best-in-class internet infrastructure, recognizing the development as a premier office building in terms of infrastructure, connectivity, and technology.
