First Canadian Place
Encyclopedia
First Canadian Place is a skyscraper
in the financial district
of Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
, at the northwest corner of King and Bay
streets, and is the location of the Toronto headquarters
of the Bank of Montreal
. At 298 m (977.7 ft), it is Canada
's tallest skyscraper and the 15th tallest building in North America
to structal top (spires) and 9th highest to the roof top, and the 68th tallest in the world. It is the third tallest free-standing structure in Canada, after CN Tower
, also in Toronto, and the Inco Superstack
in Sudbury, Ontario.
with Edward Durell Stone as design consultant, First Canadian Place was constructed in 1975 (originally named First Bank Building), on the site of the Old Toronto Star Building
. The site was the last of corners of King and Bay to be redeveloped in the 1960s and 1970s, and a major bidding war began over the property. The then little known firm of Olympia and York
eventually obtained nearly the whole city block, though the election of reformist mayor David Crombie led to new rules banning skyscrapers and it took three years of lobbying before permission for First Canadian Place was granted. When completed, the building was nearly identical in appearance to Stone's Aon Center
in Chicago
, Illinois
; completed two years previous as the Standard Oil Building, the Chicago tower is of the same floor plan and clad in the same marble, the only overtly visible difference being the vertical orientation of the windows, as opposed to the horizontal run of those on First Canadian Place.
First Canadian Place was the 6th tallest building in the world to structural top (currently 44th) and the tallest building overall outside of Chicago and New York when built in 1975. It was also the tallest building in the Commonwealth of Nations
until the completion of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur
, Malaysia, in 1998. The Bank of Montreal "M-bar" logo at the top of the building was the highest sign in the world from 1975 until overtaken by the sign atop CITIC Plaza
in 1997. The roof is still the location of a number of antennas used for radio
and television
broadcasting. The structure contains 29 elevator
s, and is one of only a few buildings in the world that uses the double-decked variety
, and is connected to the underground PATH
system.
marble
as used on Aon Center is employed as an exterior cladding and interior finish for First Canadian Place, with approximate 45,000 marble panels weighting around 200 -300 pounds each. Foreshadowing what would take place with First Canadian Place in 2007, one of the marble slabs of Aon Center, when it was named the Standard Oil Building, detached in 1974, falling and penetrating the roof of a neighbouring building, resulting in an eventual recladding of the entire Aon Center in white granite between 1992 and 1994. This problem would surface at First Canadian Place as well, during an intense storm on the evening of 15 May 2007, a 1 by, 140 kg (308.6 lb) white marble panel fell from the 60th storey of the tower's southern face onto the 3rd floor mezzanine roof below, causing authorities to close surrounding streets as a precaution.
, the owners of First Canadian Place would follow the example of Aon Center
and replace, over the course of three years, the tower's 45,000 marble panels with new ones in glass (not granite like Aon Center), those on the main expanses with a white ceramic frit
and the corners in a bronze tint. Brookfield and the co-owners also launched a multi-faceted rejuvenation program that will include "upgrades to the building's mechanical, electrical, and lighting systems that will redefine the standard for enhanced performance, comfort, and greening". FCP's common areas including upper and lower level entrance and elevator lobbies, the retail concourse and Market Place will also undergo renovation. Natural stone flooring, frit
ted glass accents, brushed metal handrails, new landscaping, and unique water features will produce an inspired and contemporary new environment. The rejuvenation program design architects are Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects
, and Bregman + Hamann Architects
are the Architects of Record. The entire project cost is in excess of CA$100 million which will be paid by the owners. This extensive capital improvement project will provide a dramatic new exterior for FCP and eliminate the maintenance costs associated with marble upkeep.
# backup transmitter; main transmitter on CN Tower
+ synchronous transmitter; provides supplementary coverage to primary transmitter in Ajax
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in the financial district
Financial District, Toronto
The Financial District is a business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, within the downtown core. It was originally planned as New Town in 1796 as an extension of the Town of York . It is the main financial district in Toronto, and is the financial heart of Canada...
of 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...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, 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...
, at the northwest corner of King and Bay
Bay Street
Bay Street, originally known as Bear Street, is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s...
streets, and is the location of the Toronto headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
of the Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...
. At 298 m (977.7 ft), it is 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...
's tallest skyscraper and the 15th tallest building in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
to structal top (spires) and 9th highest to the roof top, and the 68th tallest in the world. It is the third tallest free-standing structure in Canada, after CN Tower
CN Tower
The CN Tower is a communications and observation tower in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Standing tall, it was completed in 1976, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest tower at the time. It held both records for 34 years until the completion of the Burj...
, also in Toronto, and the Inco Superstack
Inco Superstack
The mine at the Inco Superstack is the source for 100% of the nickel used to make the batteries for Toyota's Pruis.The Inco Superstack in Sudbury, Ontario, with a height of , is the tallest chimney in Canada and the Western hemisphere, and the second tallest freestanding chimney in the world after...
in Sudbury, Ontario.
History and architecture
First Canadian Place is named for Canada's first bank, the Bank of Montreal. Designed by Bregman + Hamann ArchitectsBregman + Hamann Architects
B+H Architects , founded in 1953, is an international architecture, interior design and urban planning firm...
with Edward Durell Stone as design consultant, First Canadian Place was constructed in 1975 (originally named First Bank Building), on the site of the Old Toronto Star Building
Old Toronto Star Building
The Old Toronto Star Building at 80 King Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was built in 1929 by Chapman & Oxley and abandoned in 1970 when the Toronto Star newspaper moved to One Yonge Street. The Art Deco building was torn down in 1972 to make way for the First Canadian Place. It stood at...
. The site was the last of corners of King and Bay to be redeveloped in the 1960s and 1970s, and a major bidding war began over the property. The then little known firm of Olympia and York
Olympia and York
Olympia & York was once a major international property development firm based in Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes like Canary Wharf in London, the World Financial Center in New York City and First Canadian Place in Toronto...
eventually obtained nearly the whole city block, though the election of reformist mayor David Crombie led to new rules banning skyscrapers and it took three years of lobbying before permission for First Canadian Place was granted. When completed, the building was nearly identical in appearance to Stone's Aon Center
Aon Center (Chicago)
The Aon Center is a modern skyscraper in the Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois, United States, designed by architect firms Edward Durell Stone and The Perkins and Will partnership, and completed in 1973 as the Standard Oil Building...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
; completed two years previous as the Standard Oil Building, the Chicago tower is of the same floor plan and clad in the same marble, the only overtly visible difference being the vertical orientation of the windows, as opposed to the horizontal run of those on First Canadian Place.
First Canadian Place was the 6th tallest building in the world to structural top (currently 44th) and the tallest building overall outside of Chicago and New York when built in 1975. It was also the tallest building in the Commonwealth of Nations
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...
until the completion of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia, in 1998. The Bank of Montreal "M-bar" logo at the top of the building was the highest sign in the world from 1975 until overtaken by the sign atop CITIC Plaza
CITIC Plaza
CITIC Plaza is a skyscraper built in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. Its structural height is 391 m 80 stories including two tall antenna-like spires on the top. Completed in 1997, it is the tallest concrete building in the world...
in 1997. The roof is still the location of a number of antennas used for radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcasting. The structure contains 29 elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s, and is one of only a few buildings in the world that uses the double-decked variety
Double-deck elevator
Double-deck elevators are designed with two elevator cars that are attached, one on top of the other. This allows passengers on two consecutive floors to be able to use the elevator simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capacity of an elevator shaft...
, and is connected to the underground PATH
PATH (Toronto)
PATH is a network of pedestrian tunnels beneath the office towers of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex in the world with 371,600 m² PATH is a network of pedestrian tunnels beneath the office towers of Downtown...
system.
Cladding
The same white CarraraCarrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
as used on Aon Center is employed as an exterior cladding and interior finish for First Canadian Place, with approximate 45,000 marble panels weighting around 200 -300 pounds each. Foreshadowing what would take place with First Canadian Place in 2007, one of the marble slabs of Aon Center, when it was named the Standard Oil Building, detached in 1974, falling and penetrating the roof of a neighbouring building, resulting in an eventual recladding of the entire Aon Center in white granite between 1992 and 1994. This problem would surface at First Canadian Place as well, during an intense storm on the evening of 15 May 2007, a 1 by, 140 kg (308.6 lb) white marble panel fell from the 60th storey of the tower's southern face onto the 3rd floor mezzanine roof below, causing authorities to close surrounding streets as a precaution.
Rejuvenation program
In late 2009, it was announced that Brookfield PropertiesBrookfield Properties
Brookfield Office Properties Inc. is a North American commercial real estate company. Brookfield Asset Management owns fifty percent of its outstanding common shares. The company has its headquarters operations in New York City and Toronto...
, the owners of First Canadian Place would follow the example of Aon Center
Aon Center (Chicago)
The Aon Center is a modern skyscraper in the Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois, United States, designed by architect firms Edward Durell Stone and The Perkins and Will partnership, and completed in 1973 as the Standard Oil Building...
and replace, over the course of three years, the tower's 45,000 marble panels with new ones in glass (not granite like Aon Center), those on the main expanses with a white ceramic frit
Frit
Frit is a ceramic composition that has been fused in a special fusing oven, quenched to form a glass, and granulated. Frits form an important part of the batches used in compounding enamels and ceramic glazes; the purpose of this pre-fusion is to render any soluble and/or toxic components insoluble...
and the corners in a bronze tint. Brookfield and the co-owners also launched a multi-faceted rejuvenation program that will include "upgrades to the building's mechanical, electrical, and lighting systems that will redefine the standard for enhanced performance, comfort, and greening". FCP's common areas including upper and lower level entrance and elevator lobbies, the retail concourse and Market Place will also undergo renovation. Natural stone flooring, frit
Frit
Frit is a ceramic composition that has been fused in a special fusing oven, quenched to form a glass, and granulated. Frits form an important part of the batches used in compounding enamels and ceramic glazes; the purpose of this pre-fusion is to render any soluble and/or toxic components insoluble...
ted glass accents, brushed metal handrails, new landscaping, and unique water features will produce an inspired and contemporary new environment. The rejuvenation program design architects are Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects
Raul de Armas
Raúl de Armas is a Cuban-born architect who has designed and completed many major buildings in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East in his career of more than 35 years, winning numerous design awards....
, and Bregman + Hamann Architects
Bregman + Hamann Architects
B+H Architects , founded in 1953, is an international architecture, interior design and urban planning firm...
are the Architects of Record. The entire project cost is in excess of CA$100 million which will be paid by the owners. This extensive capital improvement project will provide a dramatic new exterior for FCP and eliminate the maintenance costs associated with marble upkeep.
Broadcasting
The following Toronto-area broadcasters have their transmitters atop First Canadian Place:FM stations
- CKLN-FMCKLN-FMCKLN.fm is a domain owned by Chris Scully which streams an internet radio station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which follows in the tradition of the former CKLN-FM.From 1983 to 2011, CKLN Radio Inc...
88.1 (The first radio station to use this transmitter tower. Now defunct.) - CIRV-FMCIRV-FMCIRV-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 88.9 FM in Toronto. The station airs a multicultural programming format. The station launched in 1986 at FM 88.7, and moved to its current frequency in 1993...
88.9 - CIUT-FMCIUT-FMCIUT-FM is a campus and community radio station owned and operated by the University of Toronto community. The station broadcasts live and continuously from Toronto on the 89.5 FM frequency. Programming can also be heard nationally via channel 826 on Shaw Direct, and over the internet via the CIUT...
89.5 - CJBC-FMCJBC-FMCJBC-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 90.3 FM in Toronto, Ontario. A French language station, it airs the programming of Radio-Canada's Espace musique network.The station launched in 1992...
90.3 (Radio-Canada Espace Musique) - CKIS-FMCKIS-FMCJAQ-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 96.9 FM in Calgary, Alberta. The station uses the on-air brand name Jack FM. It is the second Jack FM station in Canada and the world, after its sister CKLG-FM in Vancouver.-History:...
92.5 (Kiss 92.5) - CFXJ-FMCFXJ-FMCFXJ-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, which uses the on-air brand FLOW 93.5. It first aired in 2001 as Canada's first urban music station...
93.5 (Flow 93.5) - CJKX-FMCJKX-FMCJKX-FM is a Canadian radio station. Although its official city of licence is Ajax, Ontario, the station operates from studios in Oshawa, Ontario with co-owned stations CKDO and CKGE. Airing at 95.9 FM, the station broadcasts a country music format branded as KX96.The station was launched in 1967...
95.9 (KX96) + - CFMZ-FM 96.3 (Classical 96)
- CBLA-FMCBLA-FMCBLA-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the flagship station of the CBC Radio One network, broadcasting at 99.1 FM in Toronto, Ontario.- History :...
99.1 (CBC Radio One) - CJSA-FMCJSA-FMCJSA-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 101.3 FM in Toronto, Ontario. The station broadcasts in 22 languages reaching a majority of the South Asian audience...
101.3 (CMR Diversity FM) - CFNY-FMCFNY-FMCFNY-FM, promoted under the branding 102.1 The Edge, is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 FM. The station rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s due to its freestyle DJing format and unique choice to play alternative music...
102.1 (102.1 The Edge) # - CKAV-FM 106.5 (Aboriginal Voices Radio)
- CILQ-FMCILQ-FMCILQ-FM is a radio station, broadcasting at 107.1 FM in Toronto, Ontario. The station broadcasts a classic rock format branded as Q107 and is also available through streaming audio....
107.1 (Q107) #
CN Tower
The CN Tower is a communications and observation tower in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Standing tall, it was completed in 1976, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest tower at the time. It held both records for 34 years until the completion of the Burj...
TV stations
- CKXT-DT (Sun News Network) UHF channel 52
- CJMT-DT (Omni.2) UHF channel 69