(it was all unlocked)
- - - - - - - - - - -
Good Luck was my best friend the morning I visited the Elveden Centre. I didn't
even know where I was downtown, didn't even know what building I was in- all
I saw was an elevator bank, and figured I should try and get to the roof.
I hit the button for the top floor, which I think was the fifteenth. The elevator
raced up, the doors slid open, and I stepped out- and stopped in complete
disbelief.
I looked out from the elevator bank into a completely gutted floor- bare concrete,
exposed pillars, and missing ceiling tiles. What unbelievable luck! Then I
noticed some piles of construction supplies, and heard what sounded like a
saw start up somewhere nearby. Undeterred, I wandered around the floor a bit,
checking out the view. I also found that the loud saw noise was coming from
one of the open stairwell doors, where someone was working. There were some
small holes for pipes in the floor, and I could see the level below, which
also looked to be gutted.
I went to the unoccupied stairwell and headed down a storey, in order to shoot
some photos undisturbed. The 14th floor was also gutted, and I took my time
wandering around looking out the windows.
Gutted levels are cool, but don't hold much of interest, so I figured I'd
head up the stairs and look in on the roof. Unfortunately, the topmost door
in the stairwell was locked- but one floor below, there was a nice open door
that led to a mechanical level. I slipped through the door, and flicked a
light switch on the wall. Before me was a small playground of neat mechanical
stuff- huge ventillation ducts, lots of piping, and a huge panel of electrical
switches. I spent a while wandering through this large room, working my way
around the vents and into a cool fan area, before shutting off the lights
and going back into the stairwell.
I really wanted to get to the roof, and decided to cross over to the other
stairwell. Oddly, the washrooms in this building were located at every half-level
between floors, and could only be accessed from this stairwell. Apparently,
they were in the process of renovating these washrooms, and the sawing noises
I'd heard earlier were from some guy cutting tile for the floor. I had to
creep up the stairwell and quietly sneak past the door to the washroom the
guy was working in, because he was laying tile right next to the door. I made
it past him and up the stairs, where I was immediately stopped by a locked
door to an elevator room- there was no roof door in this stairwell!
So, timing my movements to whenever the worker below cut some tiles, I started
back down the stairs. As I was passing by the door, the guy looked over and
saw me, stared for a minute, but didn't say anything. Meanwhile, I kept going
down the stairs, down past several more gutted levels. I went out of the stairwell
into one of these, and went to the elevators.
Once I was safely inside an elevator, I hit the "B" button, hoping
that the basement would hold more coolness. At the bottom, I came off the
elevator into a little bare hallway area. I walked around a corner and came
upon a set of double doors, which were emitting loud mechanical room sounds.
Good Luck was with me again, and the door was unlocked- allowing me access
into a large, rectangular room filled with all sorts of machinery.
Right away, I noticed there were jackets and other things lying around that
indicated the presence of workmen, so I kept a sharp eye as I moved quickly
into the room. There didn't seem to be anyone around for the moment, so I
pulled out my camera and started snapping photos. I passed by what was probably
a bunch of boilers, chillers, compressors, and a couple of nifty emergency
generators. At the back of the room, a large group of pipes came together
and flowed into a crawlspace. I didn't feel like following them right away,
so I turned around and went to the other end of the mech room. Unbelievably,
there was a huge garage door that had been left wide open, connecting to an
underground parkade- just like an invitation. But then, I heard what sounded
like someone coming into the mech room, so I scurried out into the parkade
to avoid being seen.
Even the parkade held a surprise. An entire side of the parkade was fenced
off with chainlink, and behind this fence was a variety of things mechanical.
Amazingly, a gate leading into this fenced-off area had been left wide open,
so I stepped inside and walked along, ducking under a pipe or two and looking
at some dirty machines. At the far end, another gate had been left open, so
I exited through this back into the parkade proper.
The parkade was getting boring, so I went through a set of doors I hoped would
lead to a stairwell. Instead, I found myself in a bizarre area that was divided
into storage cages. The cages held a variety of things storable, from carboard
boxes to spare parts for building maintenance. The hallways in between were
delightfully cramped and dimly-lit, lending to the slightly creepy atmosphere
afforded by the black mesh of the cages. I wandered through here for a while,
and came to the door of what I think was another mechanical room. There were
pipefitter's tools lying right outside the door, though, and banging noises
coming from the other side. I'll bet the door was unlocked, but I decided
to play it safe and return to the parkade.
Back in the parkade, I encountered a group of maintenance workers who looked
like they were just coming back from lunch. By now, I was genuinely in search
of an exit, so I asked one of the workers, and he pointed me to the nearest
stairwell. At the first floor, I exited into the busy lobby of a building
I didn't recognize. I went outside to the front of the building, and only
after reading the sign that proclaimed "Elveden Centre" did I finally
know where I was. From the outside, I was also able to see that the Centre
was composed of three small highrises that shared a common base; two residential
towers flanked a taller office tower. I'd just explored one of the residential
towers, and I didn't want to leave until I'd tried the taller tower in the
middle.
I went back inside the Centre, into the elevators that serve the office tower.
I rode up to the top floor, and crossed into a stairwell. This led up past
a private floor, and then to a mechanical level at the top of the building.
Somehow, even the door to this level opened for me, and hoping there was no
one around, I stepped inside.
Before me lay several huge elevator winches, and rows of blue cabinets filled
with clicking machinery. One of the elevator motors sprang into action right
beside me, and I moved a bit further into the room. Three small windows near
the floor were the main source of light, and gave a cool blue cast to the
concrete surroundings. I spotted the rooftop door across the room, and went
over to it. But, as chance would have it, this was one of the few doors in
the building that was actually locked. Disappointed, I shot my last photo
and took the stairs back down to the elevator.
I figured my luck in the Elveden Centre had just about run out, and so I smiled
at the security guard who was standing outside the lobby when I walked out.
As I left the building, I reflected that I'd had an excellent run of the place,
despite the fact that I'd known absolutely nothing about it before I even
walked in the door.
- - - - - - - - - - -
The central office tower at Elveden Centre.
Looking out the window from the 15th? floor. After I got the film back, I realized that at left, you can actually see the other two towers of the Elveden Centre.
Gutted floor!.
The 14th floor has been gutted, as you can see. I love the letters they used to identify the floors.
Mmm, big green snakes on the mechanical level.
Reduxzero posing under a big ventilation duct.
Back to the elevators!
The opposite stairwell was decorated in these nifty hospital-green tiles. I also found it unique in that this building actually had levels labeled "Thirteenth Floor"; whereas many buildings superstitiously skip from 12 to 14.
A couple emergency generators were in the basement mech room. I love emergency generators, I always have to get a photo when I see one; they're so cool.
Pipes and mechanical things in the basement.
An empty storage cage in the basement- note the pipes leading to what I presume was another mech room.
The elevator motors atop the office tower.