The World Exchange Plaza is an office and retail 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 ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

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 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 ...

. Consisting of two towers and an outdoor plaza, it covers an entire city block between Metcalfe and O'Connor Streets south of

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and north of Albert Street. The first phase of the project was completed in 1991. At the time, the twenty-story building was unusual in Ottawa for its visual flair. The eastern side was marked by a large plaza modeled after the Roman

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...

. The building opened in the middle of a deep recession and initially had trouble being filled. Still, work began on a second tower, which was completed in 2001. This second tower greatly increased the available office space. The two towers hold offices for a variety of companies, including

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

Borden Ladner Gervais Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (abbreviated as BLG) is a leading, full-service law firm in Canada. With almost two hundred years of history going back to the 1823 founding of McMaster Gervais, it now has offices in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Ottaw ...

(BLG), CTV,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Accenture Accenture plc is an Irish-American professional services company based in Dublin, specializing in information technology (IT) services and consulting. A ''Fortune'' Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $61.6 billion in 2022. Accentur ...

Norton Rose Fulbright Norton Rose Fulbright is a British-American multinational law firm. It is the second largest law firm in the United States and one of the ten largest in the world, by both lawyers and revenue. In 2017–18, Norton Rose Fulbright had total reven ...

RBC Dominion Securities RBC Dominion Securities was the brand used by Royal Bank of Canada for full service brokerage services, primarily in Canada, and formed part of RBC's Wealth Management and Capital Markets divisions. Today, RBC Dominion Securities is known as RBC Ca ...

TD Canada Trust TD Canada Trust, frequently shortened to simply TD, is the commercial banking operation of TD Bank Group in Canada. TD Canada Trust offers a range of financial services and products to more than 10 million Canadian customers through more than 1,1 ...

, CPAC and

Beer Canada Beer Canada is a trade association representing beer makers in Canada. In 2014, its 26 members represented 90 percent of all domestic beer brewed in Canada. Its stated mission is to "provide thoughtful leadership and strategic focus to grow the ...

. Atop of one tower is the TD logo and atop the other is the BLG logo. The building also houses the Embassy of Mexico to Canada. The World Exchange Plaza contains a small

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

located on the ground floor. The mall featured five life-size models of

narwhal The narwhal, also known as a narwhale (''Monodon monoceros''), is a medium-sized toothed whale that possesses a large "tusk" from a protruding canine tooth. It lives year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada and Russia. It is o ...

s and

belugas The beluga whale (/bɪˈluːɡə/) (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus Delphinapterus. It is also known as the wh ...

that hung from the ceiling. The models were made and donated by the

Canadian Museum of Nature The Canadian Museum of Nature (french: Musée canadien de la nature; CMN) is a national natural history museum based in Canada's National Capital Region. The museum's exhibitions and public programs are housed in the Victoria Memorial Museum Bui ...

and were unveiled on October 29, 1991 in the presence of

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

. In preparation for an extensive renovation of the plaza's ground floor, the sculptures were given back to the

on November 10, 2021. The complex also featured a

movie theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

, the only cinema in the downtown core. The theatre was run by

Cineplex Odeon Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian movie theatre and family entertainment centre chain headquartered in Toronto. The company was formed in 2003 via the acquisition of Loews Cineplex's Canadian operations (which included t ...

from its opening in 1991 until September 30, 2005 when it was bought by

Empire Theatres Empire Theatres Limited was a movie theater chain in Canada, a subsidiary of Empire Company Ltd., the holding company of the Sobey family conglomerate. In June 2013, Empire announced it would exit the movie theatre business, selling the vast ...

who operated the theatre until October 29, 2013. The theatre closed on December 29, 2013 when

Landmark Cinemas Landmark Cinema of Canada Inc. is a Canadian cinema chain. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Landmark operates 40 theatres with 325 screens, primarily in Ontario and western Canada. Its holdings include much of the former Empire Theatres chain which it ...

was unable to renew the lease. The space was then converted into office space. On Jan 24, 2017 it was announced that Klipfolio Dashboard would become the first major tenant of this newly renovated space. The complex is managed by QuadReal on behalf of the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC).

Gallery

File:45 OConnor St.jpg, Plaza Tower I as seen from Albert Street File:100 Queen Street, Ottawa - 01.jpg, Tower II as seen from Metcalfe Street

References

External links

Tenant Info
{{coord, 45, 25, 17, N, 75, 41, 52, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Ottawa Tourist attractions in Ottawa Office buildings completed in 1991 Office buildings completed in 2001