First Canadian Place

The First Canadian Place is a skyscraper in the Financial District of Toronto on the corner of King Street and Bay Street. The skyscraper completed in 1975, is 298 meters high and measures with the antenna 355 meters. This is First Canadian Place is the tallest building in Canada and at the same time after the 553 -meter-high CN Tower ( Fernsehturm also in Toronto ) and the 381 -meter high chimney Inco in Sudbury SuperStack the third tallest building in Canada. The construction of high-rise building cost 200 million Canadian dollars.

History

The building is the headquarters of the Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest bank (hence the term First ). It was designed by the architectural firm Bregman Hamann Architects, while Edward Durell Stone was consultant in the design. The building, which originally was called First Bank Building, stands at the site of the Old Toronto Star Building, the former headquarters of the Toronto Star newspaper. It was the last still to be formative corner of the intersection King and Bay and there was kindled a fierce competition for the works contract. The contract was awarded the then little-known company Olympia and York.

Modernization

2009 began extensive renovations to the building. Firstly, the outer facade was modernized. It was renovated energy technology and the marble slabs were replaced by glass plates, which resulted in a slightly different appearance. Furthermore, were the offices and the lobby, where several shops, cafes and restaurants, a major overhaul. The renovations were completed in 2012. The building was re-opened on 25 October 2012. It was awarded after reconstruction with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ) Gold certification.

Architecture

It is striking that the building is clad with stone instead of as usual with glass, steel and concrete. On each of the 72 floors 600 tons of white marble from Italy were used. The skyscraper has 39 lifts and is connected to the PATH system, a vast underground network of pedestrian and shopping arcades. On the roof there are multiple antennas distribute radio and television programs.

At the time of First Canadian Place was the eighth tallest building in the world and the tallest outside of Chicago and New York. It was also the tallest building in a country of the Commonwealth of Nations to the completion of Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur in 1998. The "M" of the Bank of Montreal logo was until 1997 the world's tallest advertising signs until the opening of the CITIC Plaza in Guangzhou.