BCE Place

Brookfield Place (formerly BCE Place) is an office complex in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, comprising the block bounded by Yonge Street, Wellington Street West, Bay Street, and Front Street West. The complex contains of office space 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).

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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

Hockey Hall of Fame

The opulent former Bank of Montreal branch at the northwest corner of Yonge and Front streets, built in 1885, 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.

Gallery

File:BrookfieldPlaceNight4.jpg, Allen Lambert Galleria, designed by Santiago Calatrava
Brookfield Place Food Court in Basement 2022.jpg, Food Court and shops in basement
Intertwining steel arches at Sam Pollock Square 2021.jpg, Intertwining steel arches at Sam Pollock Square
Bay Wellington Tower Office Lobby 2021.jpg, Bay Wellington Tower Office Lobby
File:Hockey hall of fame former Bank of Montreal in Toronto.jpg, The building now used for the Hall, was a Bank of Montreal branch in the 1890s
File:Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg, The Hockey Hall of Fame is at the corner of Front and Yonge Streets in downtown Toronto. The same building also houses the IIHF Hall of Fame.

See also

*List of tallest buildings in Toronto
*List of tallest buildings in Canada

References

External links

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Description of Allen Lambert Galleria

Heritage elements of Brookfield Place

{{Toronto skyscrapers

Office buildings completed in 1990
Office buildings completed in 1992
Santiago Calatrava structures
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill buildings
Path (Toronto)
Skyscraper office buildings in Toronto
Postmodern architecture in Canada
Oxford Properties
Brookfield Properties buildings