Place Bonaventure is an office, exhibition, and hotel complex in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, adjacent to the city's

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

. At in size, Place Bonaventure was the second largest commercial building in the world at the time of its completion in 1967. It is one of very few buildings in Canada to have its own postal code prefix, H5A.

History

Place Bonaventure was first conceived as an exhibition hall, international trade centre, and hotel. The building covers an area of and is built over 18 CNR tracks leading to Central Station. Construction began in 1964, and was completed in 1967. Designed in the

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

style, the exterior walls are poured-in-place, ribbed sand-blasted

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

, with the interior walls sand-blasted concrete or brick. Concordia Hall was a exhibition hall. The first trade show was hosted in 1966, while the upper floors were still being constructed. Adjacent to this vast space are two large mezzanines. In 2020, it was announced that the exhibition hall would close (due to larger spaces available today, like the nearby

Palais des congrès de Montréal The Palais des congrès de Montréal is a convention centre in Montreal's Quartier international at the north end of Old Montreal. Its borough is Ville-Marie. Construction began in 1977 and completed in 1983; the Palais opened on 21 May 1983 ...

ontreal Convention Center. When Place Bonaventure opened, there were five floors of wholesale suppliers above Concordia Hall, featuring fashions, home furnishings, and children's toys. An additional floor contained the offices of the principal trading nations of the world. At ground level there were two floors of retail shopping mall. All these uses disappeared over the years. In 1998 Place Bonaventure was renovated at an expense of 60 million CAD. The building was re-designed to offer large, continuous office space. Retail space was quite reduced. Windows were added to all four sides, on all floors, to allow light into the new office spaces. The building takes its name from

Bonaventure Station Bonaventure is a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and serves the Orange Line. It opened on February 13, 1967, four months after m ...

, a former railway station located nearby. A planned expansion to the south was never constructed. Today, Place Bonaventure belongs to Kevric real estate corporation which owns many buildings in Montreal and Toronto.

Tenants

The complex houses a 397-room rooftop hotel, Hotel Bonaventure Montreal (formerly a

Hilton Hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

),"Shift"
Montreal Info, February 4, 2015. featuring a year-round heated rooftop outdoor pool, a 2.5 acres rooftop garden with trees, flowers and waterfalls, a jacuzzi and a dry sauna. Hotel's meeting space total's 50,000 sqft, fully renovated in 2018 and boasts Montreal's largest Ballroom without obstructions (15,000 sqft) as well as 20,000 sqft of exhibit space. Major tenants also include the

Société de transport de Montréal The Société de transport de Montréal (STM; en, Montreal Transit Corporation) is a public transport agency that operates transit bus and rapid transit services in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Established in 1861 as the "Montreal City Passenger Ra ...

(headquarters), Fido,

Cogeco Cogeco Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications and media company. Its corporate offices are located at 1 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec. The company is structured into three strategic business units (SBU); Cogeco Connexion, Breezeline ( ...

radio stations (except for CFGL-FM),

BMO Financial Group The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...

and a few

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

departments.

Access

Place Bonaventure is connected to Montreal's

underground city An underground city is a series of linked subterranean spaces that may provide a defensive refuge; a place for living, working or shopping; a transit system; mausolea; wine or storage cellars; cisterns or drainage channels; or several of thes ...

. It is also linked to the Bonaventure Metro station, to the

AMT Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

commuter train stations ( Lucien-L'Allier and

), AMT's downtown bus terminus and to inter-city train service (

Via Via or VIA may refer to the following: Science and technology * MOS Technology 6522, Versatile Interface Adapter * ''Via'' (moth), a genus of moths in the family Noctuidae * Via (electronics), a through-connection * VIA Technologies, a Taiwan ...

and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

at Central Station).

References

Sources

External links

* {{Malls in Montreal 1967 establishments in Quebec Arcop buildings Brutalist architecture in Canada Buildings and structures completed in 1967 Convention centres in Canada Downtown Montreal Shopping malls in Montreal