Project Profile
A Little Bit Of New York In Toronto

The growth of the condominium market in the Greater Toronto Area has been unprecedented in recent years.  So too are the designs that have resulted from this unique building boom. 

In Mississauga a recently-held design competition has resulted in a winning entry being dubbed the Marilyn Monroe condominium.  Nowhere though has exterior condo design been more affected than with their roofing systems.  In the past roofs on high-rise condos and apartment buildings were generally designed flat and as such impacted very little on the overall architecture of the building.

Today we see condos with sloped roofs, curved roofs, barrel roofs and dome roofs.  Flat roofs visible from above have been built in an assortment of colours.  Green or garden roofs are popping up on many projects.  More and more we see roofs doubling as terraces and decks with traffic surfaces and running tracks.

Condo designers are clearly giving these buildings an image that their occupants can identify with.  In some cases entire communities are built around that image. A case in point is the Daniels Corporation development known as New York Towers.

Built in North York near Bayview Avenue and Highway 401, Daniels has designed and is building what amounts to a small city, with eight buildings constructed to date.  This award-winning neighbourhood includes high-, medium- and low-rise condominium buildings.  What makes the project distinctive, from a roofing perspective, is the myriad of different types and configurations of roofs.

With names like the Empire, Chrysler, Waldorf and Rockerfeller buildings, their roofing systems have been fabricated with pre-finished metal, PVC membranes, hot rubberized asphalt, modified bitumen membranes and architectural shingles.  Many of the flat roofs incorporate garden or green roofs, traffic toppings, paving stones and PVC traffic surfaces.

Even more noteworthy is the fact that one single roofing contractor installed all of these roofing systems.  OIRCA member, Viana Roofing & Sheet Metal Ltd., of Toronto, was awarded the contract to supply and install the roofing for the first two buildings in the complex, the Chrysler Buildings, back in 2002.

Viana’s ability to handle all of these different types of systems as well as address complex detailing and challenging staging convinced Daniels that this was the roofing contractor who was going to install roofing on all future buildings in the complex.

When you view the pictures you will appreciate the complexity of the roofing work not to mention the challenges Viana faced, especially installing the PVC barrel and sloped metal roofs on the Chrysler and Waldorf buildings respectively.

Manuel DaCosta, Viana’s president, is proud of the work completed by his workers but adds, “most of the detail work, especially on the PVC barrels and the sloped metal roofs had to be designed as the work progressed.  The flashing details, particularly where we had to tie the PVC into the EIFS wall systems, were very tricky.”

“The wind, 30 stories up made handling roofing materials and completing detail work very difficult,” DaCosta said. “Not only were we committed to doing a good job, but also the safety of our crews was paramount.  All the scaffolding had to be engineered specifically for this project.”

The Chrysler Buildings
The Chrysler buildings are a good example of one of the building types that incorporated multiple roof designs and systems.  The top of the building incorporates a unique combination of barrel roofs that step up to the peak of the roof on all four sides.

The barrels were constructed using a conventional steel deck construction that was overlaid with a glass mat faced gypsum panel with a water resistant core.  This un-insulated roof deck assembly was covered with a white Sarnafil PVC membrane that was mechanically-attached to the gypsum roof board.  Sarnafil PVC flashing membrane was tied into the EIFS wall system with all terminations counter-flashed with 26-gauge pre-finished metal.  The complexity of the PVC roofing system application necessitated consultation with Sarnafil’s technical representatives who were on site during the installation process.

As the Chrysler buildings step down, a series of flat roofs and terraces were built over concrete structural decks and waterproofed with a Bakor two-ply hot rubberized asphalt protected membrane roofing system.  Insulated with four-inch extruded polystyrene insulation, the roofs and terraces were finished either with concrete paving stones or gravel.

The base of the building sits atop a podium deck that is two stories above grade level.  The podium is waterproofed with the same two-ply hot rubberized asphalt system and is surfaced with either a concrete paving stone traffic surface or a green roofing assembly. The green roof consists of conventional grass and light landscaping.

Surrounding the podium level on three sides are two- and three-storey luxury condominium townhouses.  Fabricated using typical wood frame construction, the steep sloped roofing utilized ice and water shield, and was finished with 30 year IKO architectural shingles.  Flat roofs at the rear of the townhomes were roofed with a fully-adhered Sarnafil PVC membrane directly over the plywood roof sheathing.

Townhouses that included patios in their design utilized a unique reinforced and embossed PVC traffic surface deck membrane.  This membrane was fully-adhered to the structural patio deck using a proprietary bonding adhesive.

Located at the podium deck level and between the two Chrysler buildings is a large recreation centre that is shared by all homeowners.  The dome roof was constructed with a Sarnafil mechanically-fastened roofing system over polyiso roof insulation.  The flat areas of the roof were waterproofed using the same Bakor system utilized on the tower roofs.

Details, details, details
When interviewed about the project, DaCosta cannot resist talking about the detail work associated with the roofing applications. 

“When you have this many different types of roofing systems, not to mention the air barrier systems, being installed over or adjacent to steel, concrete, wood and EIFS construction, the detail and roofing flashing work is a bit intimidating,” he said.  “When confronted by a project such as this, it re-assures us that all the training we put our men through is worthwhile after all.  There is no question that being a member of the OIRCA exposes companies such as ours to the technical aspects required to complete projects such as these.”

Training is what it is all about for the modern ICI roofing contractor in today’s market.  With such a variety of roofing systems and products available today, architects have an array of options open to them.  Whether the products are asphalt, polymer, elastomeric or metal based, the roofing contractor must have a close relationship with the manufacturers and suppliers of these products, and training becomes a vital part of that affiliation. “Working with quality builders such as Daniels Corporation is equally important,” DaCosta points out.

There was a time when roofing was considered an unskilled, bottom of the barrel trade. Not any more. Contemporary building envelope science has changed that notion. Roofing contractors must be proficient with the products and systems that are specified on today’s buildings. They must also be comfortable working along side other trade professionals to ensure that building components work in unison.

The truth of the matter is that builders, designers and consultants have become very dependent on the roofing contractor to help them solve the building envelope puzzle.  OIRCA member companies are the elite of this group and together they face the demands associated with superior building performance.