Royal Bank Tower (Montreal)

The Tour de la Banque Royale (English Royal Bank Tower ) is a skyscraper in Montreal. It is located on the Rue Saint -Jacques 360 in the southwest of the old town (Vieux -Montreal ). The 121 -meter-high building with 22 floors was built in neoclassical style. From the opening in 1928 until 1962, there was the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Canada. The steel-framed building is clad with gray limestone, with this adopted in the lower floors in the course of decades, a yellow -brown color; for the base granite was used.

History

1907 moved the Royal Bank of Canada headquarters from Halifax to Montreal. Your building on the Rue Saint -Jacques soon proved too small for the growing company. After the height restriction was eased in the municipal building regulations, the Bank committed in 1926 by the renowned New York architects York and Sawyer with the planning of a representative new building. The specialized bank building architect S. G. Davenport was brought in as a partner.

Between 1920 and 1926, the Royal Bank had acquired all the buildings on the proposed construction site between Rue Saint- Jacques and Rue Notre -Dame and had them torn down. In April 1927, the foundation stone was laid. After a year of construction, the new building was ready for occupation. At the time of opening of the Tour de la Banque Royale was the tallest building in the British Empire and the first in the city, which towered over the Basilica Notre- Dame de Montréal.

The Royal Bank took advantage of the lowest five stories for themselves and let the rest to other companies. 1962 moved the bank headquartered again, this time in Montreal skyscrapers Place Ville -Marie. In the main hall of the Tour de la Banque Royale they still operates a store. 2012, it should be closed and move to the nearby Tour de la Bourse.