One section or another of Toronto's Union Station has been in a state of construction for around seven years now, with some parts of the station's revitalization completed, and many more in the midst of transformation. One of the more eye-catching elements to come in the multifaceted revitalization will be the glass roof over the station's street-side moats, which while altering the building's appearance will improve the experience of pedestrians entering the station.
Union Station with the glass roofs added over the moats, image courtesy of NORR Architects
Structural steel elements of the canopy have now arrived in the west moat, with the first of the columns now being installed in the recently poured concrete floor of the moat.
West moat at Union Station, image by Greg Lipinski
Curving beams that will support the glass roof are awaiting installation.
First canopy elements in the west moat at Union Station, image by Greg Lipinski
The west moat from underneath the glass roof, image courtesy of NORR Architects
Union Station's east moat where the subway station is accessed, is also a busy construction area at the moment. Here, the old stairs up to the former GO Bay Concourse have been mostly demolished at this point, while new temporary stairs and a ramp are now in place to get people into the rail station.
East moat at Union Station, image by Greg Lipinski
As work picks up speed on the moat, renovations and retail fit-outs continue on various interior spaces. Peeking though the old doorway to the Bay Concourse shows a very raw space, giving a hint that there is still significant work to do to create the new Bay Retail Promenade and the new Bay GO Concourse
Peeking through the opening of the old Bay GO Concourse doors, image by Craig White
Elsewhere, other spaces are closer to completion. The removal of scaffolds at either end of the Great Hall has opened up the space, with work on the cleaning of stone and tile for these vaulted sections now complete. Work continues along the north and south walls of the space, including the ongoing conversion of the north wall's former ticketing windows into a new restaurant space.
Inside Union Station's Great Hall, image by Craig White
To the south of the Great Hall, the station's VIA Concourse is making noticeable progress. As of November 2016, the space had been stripped down to the basics, removing old finishes. While much of the work is going on behind partitions and out of view, new ceilings are going in which are closer to the structure above, maximizing the height available to improve the feeling of spaciousness.
Current state of the Via concourse, image by Craig White
At the northwest corner of the station, the York Street Promenade connects the GO York Concourse to the the York and Front Street moats and the station and city beyond. Here, colourful hoarding now marks the future locations of two restaurants. In the foreground is Union Chicken, a rotisserie restaurant that has already opened their first location in Sherway Gardens, while in the background Amano Pastificio will be an "open concept" pasta bar.
Future restaurant spaces in the York Promenade, image by Craig White
Additional information and renderings of the Union Station Revitalization can be found in our project dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread where you'll see more photography too, or you can always leave a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.