Brookfield Place (Toronto): Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 00:43, 29 January 2012
| Brookfield Place | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| General information | |
| Type | office/retail |
| Location | 161 and 181 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario  Canada |
| Construction started | 1990 |
| Completed | 1992 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 263 m (863 ft) and 208.1 m (683 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 53 and 49 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Bregman + Hamann Architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP et al. |
Brookfield Place (formerly BCE Place)[1] is an office complex in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, comprising the 2.1 hectare (5.2 acre) block bounded by Yonge Street to the east, Wellington Street West to the north, Bay Street to the west, and Front Street to the south. The complex contains 242,000 square metres (2,604,866 sq ft) of office space, and consists of two towers, the Bay Wellington Tower and the TD Canada Trust Tower, linked by the six-storey Allen Lambert Galleria. Brookfield Place is also the home of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Design
The Bay Wellington Tower is a 49 storey office tower, designed by Bregman + Hamann Architects and completed in 1992. The TD Canada Trust Tower is noted for its recessed design and spire on the upper levels and stands at 53 storeys. Designed by Bregman + Hamann Architects and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the tower was completed in 1990 was known as the Canada Trust Tower until 2000 when Canada Trust was purchased by the Toronto-Dominion Bank. The "TD" logo is prominently displayed on the Canada Trust Tower, unlike the nearby towers of the Toronto-Dominion Centre.
Although Brookfield Place is a modern office complex, it contains a significant heritage component. In the 19th century, this block was described in the Globe newspaper as "the most valuable business block in the city", although much of it was subsequently destroyed in the 1904 Toronto fire. The fire spared a row of a dozen commercial buildings at the corner of Yonge and Wellington streets, the facades of which were restored decades later and incorporated "in situ" into the Brookfield Place development. The facade of the 1890s-era Merchants' Bank building, originally located on Wellington Street, was similarly restored, although it was moved and incorporated into the Allen Lambert Galleria. The opulent former Bank of Montreal branch at the northwest corner of Yonge and Front streets, built in 1885, also forms part of the complex, and now serves as part of the Hockey Hall of Fame. It contains portraits of all Hall of Fame inductees, and houses a number of hockey trophies, including the Stanley Cup.
Brookfield Place is connected to the underground PATH system and to the subway. Brookfield Commercial Properties owns the Bay Wellington Tower, and OMERS Realty owns the TD Canada Trust Tower.[2]
Allen Lambert Galleria
The Allen Lambert Galleria, sometimes described as the "crystal cathedral of commerce", is an atrium designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava which connects Bay Street with Heritage Square. The six storey high pedestrian thoroughfare is structured by eight freestanding supports on each side of the Galleria, which branch out into parabolic shapes evoking a forest canopy[3] or a tree-lined avenue because of the presence of building facades along the sides of the structure.
The Galleria was the result of an international competition and was incorporated into the development in order to satisfy the City of Toronto's public art requirements.[4] It is a frequently photographed space, and is heavily featured as a backdrop for news reports, as well as TV and film productions.
The parabolic, arched roof that Santiago Calatrava created for the assembly hall of the Wohlen High School in Switzerland is generally considered to be a precursor of the vaulted, parabolic ceiling in the Galleria.[5]
Tenants
See also
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References
- ^ "Toronto's BCE Place Renamed Brookfield Place" (PDF). Brookfield Properties. 2007-07-27. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
- ^ McLeod, Lori. OMERS buys TD tower stake in record deal. The Globe and Mail. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
- ^ "BCE Place Allen Lambert Galleria and Heritage Toronto Square". Galinsky. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
- ^ "BCE Place Allen Lambert Galleria and Heritage Toronto Square". Galinsky. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
- ^ Lewis Kausel, Cecilia and Pendelton-Jullian, Ann Santiago Calatrava. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002
- ^ "Office locations." Kroll Inc. Retrieved on 14 August 2011. "BCE Place - Canada Trust Tower 161 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario M5J 2S4 Canada"