The World Trade Centre Montreal (in French, ''Centre de Commerce mondial de Montréal'') is a shopping centre, office and hotel complex located in the Quartier international district of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

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 ...

. Completed in 1992 by

Arcop Arcop (also ARCOP) was an architectural firm based in Montreal, renowned for designing many major projects in Canada including Place Bonaventure, Place Ville-Marie and Maison Alcan. The firm was originally formed as a partnership under the name Af ...

, it is an example of a 'horizontal skyscraper' and a leading example of

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

architectural preservation Conservation and restoration of immovable cultural property describes the process through which the material, historical, and design integrity of any immovable cultural property are prolonged through carefully planned interventions. The indivi ...

and rehabilitation. The complex united several smaller

Victorian-era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...

commercial buildings (including the city's historic

Bank of Nova Scotia The Bank of Nova Scotia (french: link=no, Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse), operating as Scotiabank (french: link=no, Banque Scotia), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada ...

building and

Canada Steamship Lines Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) is a shipping company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The business has been operating for well over a century and a half. Beginnings CSL had humble beginnings in Canada East in 1845, operating river b ...

building) by encasing them in a larger form, in this case a massive glassed-in

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

running the length of what was once Fortification Lane, itself the site of the city's colonial defensive walls. In a kind of post-modern hommage, a remnant of the Berlin Wall, given to the city in 1992, is on public exhibit within the complex. The complex includes other historic elements, such as a fountain by French architect and sculptor Dieudonné-Barthélemy Guibal (1699–1757) also donated to the city in 1992. At the far end of the centre is the Montreal

InterContinental Intercontinental is an adjective to describe something which relates to more than one continent. Intercontinental may also refer to: * Intercontinental ballistic missile, a long-range guided ballistic missile * InterContinental Hotels Group ( ...

Hotel. From the exterior it appears as a quintessential late-19th century Montreal business block with a diverse collection of buildings in different styles. Once inside the rear sections of those buildings have been oriented on to a vast open space, replete with reflecting pool, cafés, boutiques and other diverse services. The interior is united in its impressive open volume and natural lighting, it reveals itself in layers - for the uninitiated the interior space is often thoroughly unexpected. The centre 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 th ...

and to Square-Victoria-OACI

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

station towards the West and

Place d'Armes Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

and Place Riopelle to the East.

External links

Montreal World Trade Centre — 747 Victoria SquareWorld Trade Centre
{{Authority control Arcop buildings Office buildings completed in 1992 Office buildings in Montreal Old Montreal

1992 establishments in Quebec