The Sir John A. Macdonald Building is a former bank building in Ottawa now owned by the

federal government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in- ...

. It is located at 144 Wellington Street, at the corner of O'Connor Street, with a third frontage on

Sparks Street Sparks Street (''French:'' Rue Sparks) is a pedestrian mall in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was a main street in Ottawa that was converted into an outdoor pedestrian street in 1967, making it the earliest such street or mall in Canada.

, just in front of

West Block The West Block (officially the Western Departmental Building; french: Édifice administratif de l'ouest) is one of the three buildings on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario. Since 28 January 2019, it has housed the interim House of Commons Cham ...

of Parliament. Its façade indicates its former heritage as a Bank of Montreal

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually ...

location. It is an example of

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorp ...

. Designed by E.I. Barott, it was built in 1930. It reflects the integration of several styles including classical elements that had long been used to design Canadian banks. The

Doric columns The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

or the classical structure are flattened. Rather than classical figures the exterior of the building is carved with scenes depicting Canadian industry and architecture. As the building is on a slope the

entrance is a storey below the Wellington Street one. This below grade section is made of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

, while the upper level is of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The Government of Canada ordered the Bank of Montreal to vacate the building before May 2005. The Bank of Montreal was the last commercial building on this downtown street, just in front of the Parliament buildings. Now all buildings on Wellington Street between Elgin Street and the Ottawa River Parkway are Federal Government property. On 11 Jan 2012, the building was renamed the Sir John A. Macdonald Building. As of 2015, the building is used for parliamentary business and reception functions.

References

* *Kalman, Harold D. ''A History of Canadian Architecture.'' Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1994. {{Parliament Hill Bank of Montreal Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada Art Deco architecture in Canada Commercial buildings completed in 1930 Historic bank buildings in Canada Parliament of Canada buildings John A. Macdonald