1000 de la Gauchetière is a

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is named for its address at 1000 De la Gauchetière Street West in the

downtown core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with two integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buil ...

. It is Montreal's tallest building as per the height definition of the National Building Code of Canada that is used by the city of Montreal, which excludes spires. For international comparison, spires are included as per the

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings, including skyscrapers, and Sustainable design, sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in ...

's most widely used height definition for building height and the building is thus the second tallest building as per this definition. It rises to the maximum elevation approved by the city (the elevation of

Mount Royal Mount Royal (, ) is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The city's name is derived from the mountain's name. The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentian M ...

) at 232.5m above mean sea level with a total height from the average ground level around first floor to roof of 205 m (673 ft) and 51

floor A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from wikt:hovel, simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the ex ...

s. A popular feature of the building is its atrium, which holds a large ice skating rink. The building was not subject to the 1992 municipal maximum height of 200m because it was finished in 1992.

History

The building was

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

ed by Lemay & Associates and Dimakopoulos & Associates

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s, and built in 1992 at the same time as the nearby 1250 René-Lévesque which rises at 47 floors. It is an example of

postmodern architecture Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the 1960s as a reaction against the austerity, formality, and lack of variety of modern architecture, particularly in the International Style (architecture), international style adv ...

, with a distinctive triangular

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

roof as well as four copper-capped rotunda entrances at the tower base corners, which were inspired from the

Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral or in full Mary, Queen of the World and St. James the Great Cathedral is a minor basilica in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal. It is the third largest church i ...

on the north side of the building, following the trend set by Place de la Cathédrale (KPMG Tower) of Montreal skyscrapers borrowing some of their design from that of the nearest church. Also, the semispherical corner caps mirror the shape of the half-circular windows of neighbouring Marriott Château Champlain

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

, which were themselves inspired by the arches of the adjoining Windsor Station. The 1000 de la Gauchetière was built by Pomerleau Inc., the largest construction company in Quebec and one of the top general contractors in Canada. When it was built, 1000 de la Gauchetière was owned jointly by

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the province ...

and Teleglobe. In 2002, SITQ, a division of the

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (, CDPQ; ) is an institutional investor that manages several public and parapublic pension plans and insurance programs in the Canadian province of Quebec. It was established in 1965 by an act of the ...

(CDPQ), bought the building for . With the merger of all CDPQ real estate assets in 2011, ownership has been transferred to Ivanhoé Cambridge. In 2021, it was bought by the real estate companies MACH and Groupe Petra.

Height and architecture

To be precise, the tower is Montreal's tallest if it is measured to the roof. Although 1250 René-Lévesque possesses a

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

that exceeds 1000 de La Gauchetière in height, the building itself is shorter. Also, when it is viewed as part of the

skyline A skyline is the wikt:outline, outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural area, rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the ...

, 1000 de la Gauchetière appears from certain angles to be shorter because it is built on lower ground, allowing it to be taller while it still obeyed height restrictions relative to

. The building's structural core is of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

, with

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

making up the rest of the floorplates. It is serviced by 22

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

s, and its recessed corners allow up to 12 corner offices per floor. The building's architecture is similar to that of the Chase Tower in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, but with the street-level architecture projecting out in a distinct style, reducing the visual and psychological impact of the entire building from this viewpoint. Such details are features of

Features

In addition to its office space and shopping areas, it includes a full-size indoor ice skating rink, a physical

fitness centre A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, weight room and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness an ...

, a

bus terminal A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

(the Downtown Terminus) serving city and commuter buses to certain South Shore communities, and links to other underground city buildings,

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 ...

, Lucien-L'Allier Station and the

Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; ; ; born Giovanni di Fidanza; 1221 – 15 July 1274) was an Italian Catholic Franciscan bishop, Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal, Scholasticism, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General ( ...

Metro station.

Tenants

* Analysis Group, Inc. * Borden Ladner Gervais LLP * BDO *Cofomo *De Grandpré Chait LLP *

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, formerly known as Fidelity Management & Research (FMR), owned by FMR LLC and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, provides financial services. Established in 1946, the company is one of the largest asset managers in the ...

* Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP * McCarthy Tétrault LLP * RBC Dominion Securities * Raymond James * IWG *

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...

* Miller ThomsonMiller Thomson LLP
/ref>

References

External links