Royal Bank Plaza
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Royal Bank Plaza is a skyscraper in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada that serves as the "corporate headquarters" for the
Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...
. The building shares with the
Fairmont Royal York Hotel The Fairmont Royal York, formerly and still commonly known as the Royal York, is a large historic luxury hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located along Front Street West, the hotel is situated at the southern end of the Financial District, in ...
the block in Toronto's financial district bordered by Bay,
Front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...
, York, and Wellington streets. It is owned by Pontegadea.


History

The building was built to be the new main office of the Royal Bank after its decision to move its centre of operations from
Place Ville Marie Place Ville Marie (PVM for short) is a large office and shopping complex skyscraper in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, comprising four office buildings and an underground shopping plaza. It serves as the main and official headquarters for Ro ...
in
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 ...
to
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
in the late 1970s, although Place Ville Marie formally remained the "head office" of the bank. Royal Bank Plaza consists of a South Tower and a North Tower. The South Tower, a
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
, is the taller of the two at ; the North Tower has a height of . The structures each have a triangular footprint and sit on opposing corners of the square site. The exteriors of the structures are largely covered with gold-bronze glass with tan granite accents. Together, both towers contain more than 14,000 windows which project from the facade to form angular bays set into brushed aluminum frames. Due to these angled-bays, the buildings are home to many spiders that have built webs on the outside of Royal Bank Plaza. Six bays are grouped between piers which are covered in the same glass. The upper stories are recessed and contain three larger angled-bays between the piers. The double-height entry is also recessed from the facade and covered in dark-tinted glass set into dark aluminum frames. The glass for the body of the building was manufactured by Canadian Pittsburgh Industries and was coloured using of
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
, valued at CA$70 per pane at the time of installation. In addition to office space and the Toronto Main Branch of the Royal Bank, Royal Bank Plaza also contains a shopping concourse which is part of the
PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...
network, linking directly to the
TD Centre The Toronto-Dominion Centre, or TD Centre, is an office complex in the Financial District of downtown Toronto owned by Cadillac Fairview. It serves as the global headquarters for its anchor tenant, the Toronto-Dominion Bank, and provides office a ...
as well as
Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
, Brookfield Place (BCE Place) and the
Fairmont Royal York The Fairmont Royal York, formerly and still commonly known as the Royal York, is a large historic luxury hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located along Front Street West, the hotel is situated at the southern end of the Financial District, in ...
. The concourse merchants mall and tower lobbies underwent extensive renovations between 2005 and 2007. The building was constructed with a large atrium above the main banking hall that linked the two towers, but in the 1990s a trading floor was added, closing the open space. The bank maintains a presence in a number of other towers in the downtown core, including the Royal Bank Building at 20 King Street West adjacent to
Scotia Plaza Scotia Plaza is a commercial skyscraper in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is in the financial district of the downtown core bordered by Yonge Street on the east, King Street West on the south, Bay Street on the west, and Adelaide Stre ...
, the
RBC Centre RBC Centre, also known as the RBC Dexia Building, is an office tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Unlike the corporate offices of other Canadian financial institutions, the RBC Centre is outside of Toronto's Financial District. It has been owned ...
at 155 Wellington Street West, and the building complex at 310, 315, 320 and 330 Front Street West, next to the
Metro Toronto Convention Centre Metro Toronto Convention Centre (originally and still colloquially Metro Convention Centre, and sometimes MTCC), is a convention complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada along Front Street (Toronto), Front Street West in the former Railway Land ...
, which is also owned by Oxford.


Notable tenants

*
Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...
* Vale S.A. *
JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...
*
MUFG is a Japanese bank holding and financial services company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. MUFG holds assets of around US$3.1 trillion as of 2016 and is one of the "Three Great Houses" of the Mitsubishi Group alongside Mitsubishi Corpor ...
* Interac Corporation


Gallery

Royal Bank Plaza Basement Arcade 2022.jpg, Building contains a shopping concourse which is part of the PATH network Royal Bank Plaza Office Lobby 202112.jpg, Office Lobby Royal Bank Plaza (8061882452).jpg, The exteriors of the structures are largely covered with glass (1997)


See also

*
List of tallest buildings in Toronto Many of the tallest buildings in Toronto are also the tallest in all of Canada. The tallest structure in Toronto is the CN Tower, which rises . The CN Tower was the tallest free-standing structure on land from 1975 until 2007. However, it is no ...
*
List of tallest buildings in Canada This is a list of the tallest buildings in Canada. As of December 2017 there are a total of 133 completed and under construction buildings in Canada with an official height of or more. Greater Toronto has 86 (Toronto 83 (including the eight ta ...


References


External links


Royal Bank Plaza North
at
Oxford Properties Group Oxford Properties is a Canadian multinational corporation, with operations in real estate investment, development and property management. Its portfolio includes office, retail, industrial, multi-residential, life sciences and hotel assets. Esta ...

Royal Bank Plaza South
at
Oxford Properties Group Oxford Properties is a Canadian multinational corporation, with operations in real estate investment, development and property management. Its portfolio includes office, retail, industrial, multi-residential, life sciences and hotel assets. Esta ...
{{Toronto landmarks Office buildings completed in 1976 Office buildings completed in 1979 Bank headquarters in Canada Modernist architecture in Canada PATH (Toronto) Royal Bank of Canada JPMorgan Chase buildings Skyscrapers in Toronto Twin towers Oxford Properties WZMH Architects buildings 1976 establishments in Ontario Skyscraper office buildings in Canada