Saskatoon | Baydo Towers | ??m - ??m | 25-25 Floors | U/C

[drto]

Anyone in Saskatoon available to post a photo update on these?

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by Crisis

OK, here you go. I took a scan through the 41 pages and picked out what I consider to be some highlights of the build. I've referenced the page # for each comment, almost all of which contain photos, if you simply want to do a relatively quick photo journey of the progress of the project - that's likely the first time "relatively quick" has been used in conjunction with this project. 2021 contains most of the weirdness - after that it's basically just really slow.

Baydo timeline
• They started to drive interlocking steel sheet pile shoring in May of 2020 (page 5)

• By late July 2020, about 40% of the sheet piling was installed but many of them appeared to be refusing early and not making it design depth (page 6)

• During the driving of the sheet piling, there was damage to the foundation of the YWCA building next door and apparently some damage to an adjacent roadway

• By October 2020, the installation of the sheet piling was complete (though to drastically varying depths) and excavation began (still page 7)

• Here’s where it starts to get weirder. By January 2021, the excavation was still plodding along slowly, but the north end of the excavation had some strange horizontal lattice-type trusses installed. Shoring support? (page 9)

• Late March 2021, the center of the excavation has reached full depth and a large raft slab has been poured (page 11)

• Early May 2021, Steel angle braces have been added to support the sheet pile shoring and formwork for a central core has started. (page 13). Also on this page, it’s noted that the raft slab has now been buried under dirt (????). To add more fun, someone posted this:
Apparently it’s a new modern way of building - they are sinking it and the dirt is coming up around it. An engineering plan to make a foundation deeper than your building; originally used in Denmark and just approved by engineers to be used in Canada in 2020.
Simple physics really, with that big of a piece of concrete floating on blue clay compensates for any shifting the building may encounter due to external forces.
You see the steel beams attached to it, they will attach to the fulcrum system that will tie in to the counterweight of the elevator once the building is in place, making it a higher quality tower than No1 River Landing.

• September 2021, and the raft foundation is still buried, but more excavation has taken place (very slow progress through summer), but by the end of the month the tower crane had been erected (page 16)

• November 2021 and the core wall are underway. They are precast wall panels that are bolted together. Unique system to most of us (page 18)

• January 2022 and work on the core has been continuing very slowly through the fall and early winter. There is now additional steel structure being erected in the excavation (page 22)

• February 2022 sees hollowcore precast concrete slabs being placed on the steel structure (page 23)

• April 2022 and the steel framing and precast panels are clearly above grade and a cast in place slab has been poured around the core. (page 25)

• By June 2022, we’re getting a better idea of the typical building structure. The core walls are now conventionally formed cast in place concrete. The main structure is steel and they are using very thin precast floor panels that then receive a topping slab (page 26 has some good close-ups of this)

• September 2022, and a second tower crane has been erected, while progress on the north tower structure continues slowly (page 28)

• By December 2022, they have 7 floors of the north tower erected (page 29)

• Work continues slowly through spring of 2023 and the north tower begins to take shape. Page 30 contains a great photo showing the progress over the past year

• By June 2023, the concrete core of the south tower is a few floors above grade (page 31)

• Last half of 2023 sees continued slow progress. Page 36 has a photo comparing January 2023 to January 2022

• North tower appears to be topped off about June 2024, 4 years after the project began (page 38)

• June 2024 – present, exterior and (presumably) interior finishes progressing on north tower. South tower structure continues at a snails pace.

Thanks for the synopsis! A bizarre 5 years and counting.

[Echoes]

[The Bess]

thanks for picture Echoes

[drto]

Thanks Echoes! Any progress on the south tower?

[905er]

still boggles my mind that this building design was approved and ultimately was built in 2025.. but it looks at least a bit better than I thought it would end up looking.

[Echoes]

It's moving, although I don't have a real sense of the pace.

You can see it poking above the orange condo on 25th St. It's probably approaching 2/3rds height?

[roryn1]

People keep ripping on this because it’s nothing special, but as you can see the windows and balconies are about twice the size of anything else in the vicinity, so although not a modern vancouver tower, for Saskatoon market this is mid range cost housing that’s much more modern than what’s out there right now from 1980.

Has anyone moved into the first tower yet?

[Jerry]

I reached out to Baydo back in June of 2024, but I haven’t heard a peep from them since.

[Crisis]

The 25th Street building isn't yet listed on their "Our Properties" page:
https://www.baydoapartments.ca/searchlisting

[Saskabusher]

Originally Posted by Crisis

The 25th Street building isn't yet listed on their "Our Properties" page:
https://www.baydoapartments.ca/searchlisting

Neither is their Broadway project, which has been operational for years now. They're just inept at promotion, or trying to fail as they wash money in a .... never mind. A Chinese backing may have its question marks and I'm just speculating out loud. But not many companies could keep this project going at such a snail's pace unless they're getting a benefit from it, either in tax breaks or incentives. There's a bigger picture here. We used to have local reporters, sleuths as they were known, and they would uncover cool stories. Those times are long gone....

[4LSaskatoon]

[Saskabusher]

You think this is ugly? Check out masses in Toronto or Edmonton today. Lots of utilitarian housing being built.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Saskabusher

You think this is ugly? Check out masses in Toronto or Edmonton today. Lots of utilitarian housing being built.

What does Edmonton or Toronto have anything to do with the aesthetics of this building What about the interior living spaces? These buildings epitomize an oversized people warehouse from the lack of architectural design, to the cheap cladding, to the cramped interiors and, the cheap standardized finishes. Congrats if the number of people this 400 unit warehouse will unload on the street to get away from these miserable homes is up to your standards. The only thing Baydo didn't cheap out on is the number of elevators but, there's no telling from renderings how slow they are.

Image block after block of Baydo towers. You can't honestly tell me Saskatoon would be better off.

[rdaner]

Will this being filled have a noticeable effect on the population of central city as the last census was a bit underwhelming.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by rdaner

Will this being filled have a noticeable effect on the population of central city as the last census was a bit underwhelming.

474 suites. About 1000 new residents.

[4LSaskatoon]

A couple of different perspectives

[Saskabusher]

Originally Posted by 4LSaskatoon

A couple of different perspectives

Haha! I missed this and just enquired in the main thread. My bad. They actually have some insulating wall work up to the 6th floor. Good, they'll appreciate that as the weather turns. Thanks as always for the pics, 4LSaskatoon!

Edit: Two things I notice about your last pic and the first is the beautiful flora of Saskatoon. My G it looks great. I'm not sure it covers for the long, cold winters, but it helps every year, knowing spring and summer and fall will come, wrapped in a fine five month bundle.

2. You can see the Library crane. People, there are two cranes on the skyline. Progress is happening. Haha. Too bad the building can't be seen from here. That would've been icing on the cake. Ciao

[4LSaskatoon]

[skeet1991]

Awesome pictures, 4L -- thank you!

Looks like pre-leasing has begun on the north Baydo Tower, with this link from their website listing available units from December 1!

https://www.rentcafe.com/apartments/...1/default.aspx

Cool to see the building mostly lit up in the evenings.

Cross-posting to the Saskatoon Construction thread, as this is still a significant housing development for the centre of Saskatoon, all Baydo opinions aside