Brookfield Place (Toronto)

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Brookfield Place (formerly BCE Place)[1] is an office and retail complex in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, comprising the Script error: No such module "convert". block bounded by Yonge Street, Wellington Street West, Bay Street, and Front Street West. The complex contains Script error: No such module "convert". of office space, Script error: No such module "convert". of retail space,[2] and consists of two towers, the TD Canada Trust Tower (161 Bay Street) and the Bay Wellington Tower (181 Bay Street), linked by the Allen Lambert Galleria. Brookfield Place is also the home of the Hockey Hall of Fame (housed in an opulent former bank from 1885).[3] The complex also includes 12 preserved heritage buildings.[4] The complex is also connected to the PATH, which includes several shops and a food court in its basement.[5][6]

Design

The TD Canada Trust Tower at 161 Bay Street is a 53-floor office tower that is noted for its recessed design and spire on the upper levels. Designed by Bregman + Hamann Architects and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the tower was completed in 1990. It was initially known as the Canada Trust Tower until 2000, when Canada Trust was purchased by Toronto-Dominion Bank. Canada Trust signage was atop the spire of building until 2000, when it was replaced by a "TD" logo. Prior to this, TD Bank was the sole member of the Big Five banks not to have its logo visible on the Toronto skyline. The "TD" logo in the downtown Toronto skyline was solely displayed atop 161 Bay Street until July 2015, when TD Bank affixed its green-and-white logo to the newer towers of the nearby Toronto-Dominion Centre.

The Bay Wellington Tower at 181 Bay Street is a 49-floor office tower that was designed by Bregman + Hamann Architects and completed in 1992. Architecturally, it is meant to complement the TD Canada Trust Tower. For instance, parts of the Bay Wellington Tower are recessed while parts of the TD Canada Trust Tower protrude, and vice versa. Also, the Bay Wellington Tower has a twin peak or double spires, compared to the single spire of the TD Canada Trust Tower.

Allen Lambert Galleria

The Allen Lambert Galleria, sometimes described as the "crystal cathedral of commerce", is an atrium designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava that connects Bay Street with Sam Pollock Square. Structural design was completed by Yolles Partnership Inc., while the general contractor was PCL Construction. The structural steel was fabricated by Canron Construction Corporation.[7] The six-floor-high pedestrian thoroughfare is structured by eight freestanding supports on each side of the Galleria, which branch out into parabolic shapes evoking a forest canopy or a tree-lined avenue because of the presence of building facades along the sides of the structure.[8]

The Galleria was the result of an international competition and was incorporated into the development in order to satisfy the City of Toronto's public art requirements.[8] It is a frequently photographed space and is heavily featured as a backdrop for news reports, as well as TV and film productions.

The parabolic arched roof that Santiago Calatrava created for the assembly hall of the Wohlen High School in Wohlen, Aargau, Switzerland, is generally considered to be a precursor of the vaulted, parabolic ceiling in the Galleria.[9]

Ownership

Brookfield Place serves as the headquarters for Brookfield Properties, which owns the Bay Wellington Tower section of the complex. The TD Canada Trust Tower was owned in its entirety by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) through its subsidiary Oxford Properties.[10] In late 2012 or early 2013, OMERS and an unconfirmed entity identified in news reports as the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) completed a swap transaction in which OMERS reduced its ownership stake in the tower to 50%. According to the Financial Post, "A spokesman for PSP would not confirm the deal had taken place, noting the pension fund never comments on any transaction." The swap valued the 50% stake in the tower at C$465 million, or C$750 per square foot, a record for commercial property in Canada.[10]

Heritage Preservation

During construction, Brookfield Place preserved 12 heritage buildings, such as the former Bank of Montreal building at 30 Yonge St, which now houses the Hockey Hall of Fame, as well as 22 Front St W, a 14 storey office building constructed in 1923, and renovated in 1986, with an additional 136,000 square feet of office space, and 7,000 square feet of retail space.[4] Inside the Allen Lambert Galleria includes a heritage building, the RBC Dominion Securities Building. The RBC Dominion Securities Building once stood at 13-15 Wellington Street, which was originally constructed in 1845 by the Commercial Bank of the Midland District and designed by architect William Thomas. The building’s facade was taken down, and reconstructed south from its original site inside the Allen Lambert Galleria stone-by-stone.[11]

Hockey Hall of Fame

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The opulent former Bank of Montreal branch at the northwest corner of Yonge and Front streets, built in 1885,[3] also forms part of the complex and now serves as part of the Hockey Hall of Fame. It contains portraits of all Hall of Fame inductees and houses a number of hockey trophies, including the first Stanley Cup trophy.[3]

Redevelopment Plans

Brookfield, the owners of the complex, currently have plans to redevelop 22 Front St W, currently a 14 storey office building, into a 52 storey residential apartment tower. The proposal, known as 20 Front St W, will house 599 apartment units, and will stand 175m (574 ft) tall. It is designed by KPMB Architects.[12][13]

22 Front St W originally had a proposal in 1990, during construction of the complex, known as “Brookfield Place Phase III”, however, this proposal was never built.[14]

Gallery

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  2. ↑ https://www.brookfieldproperties.com/en/our-properties/brookfield-place-bay-wellington-tower-203/
  3. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b https://www.brookfieldproperties.com/en/our-properties/brookfield-place-22-front-street-200/
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  8. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

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