Place Ville-Marie
Encyclopedia
1 Place Ville-Marie formerly Royal Bank Tower taken from its anchor tenant, is a 188 m (616.8 ft) with 47-storey
, cruciform
office tower built in the International style
in 1962, arguably the most distinctive building in Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
. It was built in the 1960s as the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Canada
. Along with an underground shopping mall
, it forms the nexus of Montreal's Underground City
, the world's largest, with indoor access to over 1,600 shops
, restaurant
s, offices and business
es, as well several metro stations in Montreal, a suburban transportation terminal
, and tunnel
s extending all over downtown
. A rotating beacon on the rooftop (turning counter-clockwise) lights up at night, illuminating the surrounding sky with up to four white horizontal beams that can be seen as far as 50 km away.
point of view the cruciform tower is "1, Place Ville-Marie" and the lesser buildings around it are "2, Place Ville-Marie" and so on. The buildings and the plaza have been given many facelifts over the years. In the latest facelift, much of the grey concrete and terrazzo of the plaza was covered with grass, flowers and shrubs. The complex has 2700000 square feet (250,838.2 m²) of space and parking
for about 900 cars
. There are about 70 tenants with 3,000 employees. Via Rail
has its headquarters in "3, Place Ville-Marie".
between the southern portal of Canadian National Railway
's Mount Royal Tunnel
and Central Station. Most of the building was thus built over the tracks, requiring the structure to be more resistant to vibrations than normally required. As a result, it is the most earthquake-resistant office tower in Montreal.
All of the land bounded by Cathcart Street, Dorchester Boulevard (now René Lévesque Boulevard
), University Street
and Mansfield Street was owned by the CNR, Railways, with the
exception of the venerable St. James Club at the corner of Dorchester and University. Developer William Zeckendorf
offered the club the top floor of the Place Ville Marie tower in exchange for their property, but was turned down.
and I. M. Pei
, who was later to become a famous master of Modernist architecture. His design was controversial from the start given its proximity to many Montreal landmarks and the vast changes it would bring to the downtown core.
According to design historian Mark Pimlott, "The most radical aspect of the Place Ville Marie project was that nearly one-half of its 280,000 square metres area were beneath street level... deriving the obvious benefit of being protected from Montréal’s extreme winter and summer climate." Its vast network and multi-purpose is juxtaposed with a continuous interior "with episodes of civic gravity and monumentality".
At the time of construction, the main tower was known as the tallest skyscraper in the Commonwealth
, and was the third tallest skyskraper on earth outside the United States. The equivalent of three floors was added late in the project to ensure that this building would not be topped by the neighboring Tour CIBC
which was built at the same time.
Conceived and built at a time when Montreal was the Metropolis
of Canada during the 1960s, the structure's largest occupant and anchor tenant was the Head Office of the Royal Bank of Canada
, the country's largest bank. The central plaza became an important new public space in downtown Montreal, hosting an historic election rally for Pierre Elliott Trudeau during the 1968 federal election
.
Developer William Zeckendorf
lost a bet to then Royal Bank President Earle McLaughlin
, making payment in full (US$0.10) in an elaborate dime encased in acrylic. Exactly what the bet concerned is unknown.
Though the Head Office was moved to Toronto
in the 1970s, RBC still maintains the regional headquarters there.
In 1975 Air Canada
's headquarters were at 1 Place Ville-Marie.
Mayor Jean Drapeau
chose the name himself. Ville-Marie was the name of the Catholic colony founded at what is now Montreal
in 1642.
contains the Restaurant Club Lounge Altitude 737 restaurant
and nightclub
(named for its elevation in feet from sea level) and opens onto a rooftop terrace. The club is one of the most famous in the city, and also houses one of the most unique dancefloor which instead of taking the form of a regular rectangular floor, twists and turns around and spans two floors.
During the holiday season, a large artificial Christmas tree is installed in the central court. The plaza has a large fountain with programmed water jets and a big abstract sculpture at its center: "Feminine Landscape" by Gerald Gladstone
.
The complex is currently owned by the SITQ, a division of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
(CDP Capital), who bought the building in March 2000 for CA$450 million .
has its headquarters in 3 Place Ville-Marie.
Décision 1, complexe de bureaux et services d'affaires inc. is located at 1 Place Ville Marie
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
, cruciform
Cruciform
Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
office tower built in the International style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
in 1962, arguably the most distinctive building in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It was built in the 1960s as the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Financial Group is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto,...
. Along with an underground shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
, it forms the nexus of Montreal's Underground City
Underground City, Montreal
Montreal's Underground City is the set of interconnected complexes in and around Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada...
, the world's largest, with indoor access to over 1,600 shops
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
, restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, offices and business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
es, as well several metro stations in Montreal, a suburban transportation terminal
Terminus Centre-Ville (AMT)
Terminus Centre-Ville is a bus terminus located within 1000 de La Gauchetière, Montreal. It is multimodal with the Bonaventure metro station on the Orange Line, the Central Station, the Lucien-L'Allier train station as well as the Lucien-L'Allier metro station...
, and tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s extending all over downtown
Downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is nearly enitirely located at the southern most slope of Mount Royal and is approximately bounded by Sherbrooke Street to the north, Papineau Avenue to the east, Guy Street or until Shaughnessy Village to the west,...
. A rotating beacon on the rooftop (turning counter-clockwise) lights up at night, illuminating the surrounding sky with up to four white horizontal beams that can be seen as far as 50 km away.
Buildings
The name "Place Ville-Marie" is often used to refer to the cruciform building only, but it also applies to four shorter office buildings which were built around it in 1963 and 1964, and to the urban plaza which lies on top of the largest section of the shopping promenade, and between the buildings. From a postalMail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
point of view the cruciform tower is "1, Place Ville-Marie" and the lesser buildings around it are "2, Place Ville-Marie" and so on. The buildings and the plaza have been given many facelifts over the years. In the latest facelift, much of the grey concrete and terrazzo of the plaza was covered with grass, flowers and shrubs. The complex has 2700000 square feet (250,838.2 m²) of space and parking
Parking
Parking is the act of stopping a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied for more than a brief time. Parking on one or both sides of a road is commonly permitted, though often with restrictions...
for about 900 cars
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
. There are about 70 tenants with 3,000 employees. Via Rail
VIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
has its headquarters in "3, Place Ville-Marie".
Site
The location of Place Ville-Marie was originally a vast railway trench gouged in the flank of Mount RoyalMount Royal
Mount Royal is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the city to which it gave its name.The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentians and the Appalachians...
between the southern portal of Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
's Mount Royal Tunnel
Mount Royal Tunnel
The Mount Royal Tunnel is a railway tunnel located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It connects the city's Gare Centrale/Central Station, located downtown, with the north side of the Island of Montreal and Laval, passing through Mount Royal. Since 1995, the only trains using the tunnel are commuter...
and Central Station. Most of the building was thus built over the tracks, requiring the structure to be more resistant to vibrations than normally required. As a result, it is the most earthquake-resistant office tower in Montreal.
All of the land bounded by Cathcart Street, Dorchester Boulevard (now René Lévesque Boulevard
René Lévesque Boulevard
René Lévesque Boulevard is one of the main streets in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.It is a main east-west thoroughfare passing through the downtown core in the borough of Ville-Marie. The street begins on the west at Atwater Avenue and continues until it merges with Notre Dame Street East just east...
), University Street
University Street
University Street is a major north-south street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It links Pine Avenue in the north and Notre-Dame Street in the south....
and Mansfield Street was owned by the CNR, Railways, with the
exception of the venerable St. James Club at the corner of Dorchester and University. Developer William Zeckendorf
William Zeckendorf
William Zeckendorf, Sr. was a prominent American real estate developer. Through his development company Webb and Knapp – for which he began working in 1938 and which he purchased in 1949 – he developed a significant portion of the New York City urban landscape.-Career:Zeckendorf's...
offered the club the top floor of the Place Ville Marie tower in exchange for their property, but was turned down.
History
Place Ville-Marie was one of the first designs of Henry N. CobbHenry N. Cobb
Henry N. Cobb is an American architect and founding partner with I.M. Pei of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, an international architectural firm based in New York City....
and I. M. Pei
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei , commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese American architect, often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton, China and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou...
, who was later to become a famous master of Modernist architecture. His design was controversial from the start given its proximity to many Montreal landmarks and the vast changes it would bring to the downtown core.
According to design historian Mark Pimlott, "The most radical aspect of the Place Ville Marie project was that nearly one-half of its 280,000 square metres area were beneath street level... deriving the obvious benefit of being protected from Montréal’s extreme winter and summer climate." Its vast network and multi-purpose is juxtaposed with a continuous interior "with episodes of civic gravity and monumentality".
At the time of construction, the main tower was known as the tallest skyscraper in the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
, and was the third tallest skyskraper on earth outside the United States. The equivalent of three floors was added late in the project to ensure that this building would not be topped by the neighboring Tour CIBC
Tour CIBC
La Tour CIBC is a forty-five-storey skyscraper in Montreal, Quebec. With the communications antenna on the roof, the total height is . The International Style office tower was built by Peter Dickinson, Ross, Fish, Duschenes and Barrett and was the city's tallest building from 1962 to 1963...
which was built at the same time.
Conceived and built at a time when Montreal was the Metropolis
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...
of Canada during the 1960s, the structure's largest occupant and anchor tenant was the Head Office of the Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Financial Group is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto,...
, the country's largest bank. The central plaza became an important new public space in downtown Montreal, hosting an historic election rally for Pierre Elliott Trudeau during the 1968 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1968
The Canadian federal election of 1968 was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 28th Parliament of Canada...
.
Developer William Zeckendorf
William Zeckendorf
William Zeckendorf, Sr. was a prominent American real estate developer. Through his development company Webb and Knapp – for which he began working in 1938 and which he purchased in 1949 – he developed a significant portion of the New York City urban landscape.-Career:Zeckendorf's...
lost a bet to then Royal Bank President Earle McLaughlin
Earle McLaughlin
William Earle McLaughlin, OC was a Canadian banker.Born in Oshawa, Ontario, Earle McLaughlin graduated with the gold medal in commerce from Queen's University and joined the Royal Bank of Canada in 1936. In 1960, at an age considered very young at the time, 45-year-old McLaughlin was appointed the...
, making payment in full (US$0.10) in an elaborate dime encased in acrylic. Exactly what the bet concerned is unknown.
Though the Head Office was moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in the 1970s, RBC still maintains the regional headquarters there.
In 1975 Air Canada
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
's headquarters were at 1 Place Ville-Marie.
Mayor Jean Drapeau
Jean Drapeau
Jean Drapeau, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Montreal from 1954 to 1957 and 1960 to 1986...
chose the name himself. Ville-Marie was the name of the Catholic colony founded at what is now Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
in 1642.
Other information
In addition to being the only cruciform building in the core of the city, Place Ville-Marie stands out even more at night because of the rotating beacon on its roof. Its four spotlights are visible at more than 50 kilometres. The building's penthousePenthouse apartment
A penthouse apartment or penthouse is an apartment that is on one of the highest floors of an apartment building. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features.-History:...
contains the Restaurant Club Lounge Altitude 737 restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
and nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
(named for its elevation in feet from sea level) and opens onto a rooftop terrace. The club is one of the most famous in the city, and also houses one of the most unique dancefloor which instead of taking the form of a regular rectangular floor, twists and turns around and spans two floors.
During the holiday season, a large artificial Christmas tree is installed in the central court. The plaza has a large fountain with programmed water jets and a big abstract sculpture at its center: "Feminine Landscape" by Gerald Gladstone
Gerald Gladstone
Gerald Gladstone was a Canadian sculptor and painter. Born in Toronto, Canada, as a child Gladstone was as committed to music as he was to painting, teaching himself to play the clarinet and forming a jazz band.-Biography:...
.
The complex is currently owned by the SITQ, a division of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec manages public pension plans in the Canadian province of Quebec. It was founded in 1965 by an act of the National Assembly...
(CDP Capital), who bought the building in March 2000 for CA$450 million .
Tenants
Via RailVIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
has its headquarters in 3 Place Ville-Marie.
Décision 1, complexe de bureaux et services d'affaires inc. is located at 1 Place Ville Marie
Images
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See also
- List of malls in Montreal
- List of tallest buildings in Montreal
- Montreal underground city malls
- Royal Bank PlazaRoyal Bank PlazaRoyal Bank Plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is the de facto headquarters of the Royal Bank of Canada. The building shares with the Fairmont Royal York Hotel the block in Toronto's financial district bordered by Bay, Front, York, and Wellington streets....
in TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from... - Tour de la Banque Royale
Further reading
- Gray, Jeremy. Montreal. Lonely Planet, 2004. p. 31 and p. 67.
- Frommer, Arthur. Montreal and Quebec City, 2007. p. 139, 153.
- McKay, Emma ed. Montreal and Quebec City. Colour guide, 2005. p. 34, 106.
- Ulysses Travel GuidesUlysses Travel GuidesUlysses Travel Guides is a Canadian publisher.Specializing in travel guides, Ulysses publishes guides for independent travellers.In addition to publishing its own guides, Ulysses also acts as a retailer and distributor through its two Montréal bookstores and its distribution network which supplies...
pp. 103.
External links
- 1 Place Ville-Marie Official website
- 1 Place Ville-Marie at SITQ
- Place Ville-Marie at Images Montreal