CIBC Tower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids CIBC Tower |
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La Tour CIBC
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| Alternative names | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building |
| General information | |
| Type | Commercial offices |
| Architectural style | International |
| Location | 1155 Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest Montreal, Quebec |
| Coordinates | 45°29′55″N 73°34′15″W / 45.4985°N 73.5709°W |
| Completed | 1962 |
| Owner | British Columbia Investment Management Corporation |
| Management | British Columbia Investment Management Corporation |
| Height | |
| Antenna spire | 225 m (738 ft) |
| Roof | 187 m (614 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 45 |
| Floor area | 54,154 m2 (582,910 sq ft) |
| Lifts/elevators | 16 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Peter Dickinson and Ross, Fish, Duschenes and Barrett |
| Developer | CIBC |
The CIBC Tower (also known as French: La Tour CIBC) is a tall building, called a skyscraper, located in Montreal, Quebec. It stands 187 m (614 ft) high and has 45 floors. If you include the communications antenna on its roof, the total height reaches 225 m (738 ft).
This office tower was designed in a style called the International Style. It was built by Peter Dickinson and his team. When it was finished in 1962, it became the tallest building in Montreal for a short time. Many businesses have offices here, including the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and the law firm Stikeman Elliott.
The building is found at 1155 René Lévesque Boulevard West. It's right next to Dorchester Square. Part of the old Windsor Hotel was taken down to make space for the CIBC Tower.
History of the Tower
The idea for this building started in 1959 with the Canadian Bank of Commerce. While the tower was being built, the Canadian Bank of Commerce joined with another bank, the Imperial Bank of Canada. Together, they formed the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) in 1961.
The CIBC Tower was finished in 1962. For a short time, it was the tallest building in all of Canada and even the entire Commonwealth of Nations. However, it was soon surpassed by another Montreal skyscraper, Place Ville-Marie, later that same year.
How the Tower Was Built
The CIBC Tower is quite slender, meaning it's not very wide for its height. This was because of a rule that limited how much floor space a building could have compared to the land it was on.
The outside of the tower looks a bit more decorative than other buildings of its style. It has horizontal stripes of glass windows that alternate with panels made of different kinds of stone. Some of these panels are made of green slate from Wales!
The building was updated in 1991. The large CIBC logo at the very top was also changed in 2004 and again in 2013.
Inside the building, some floors are special. Floors 15 and 29 are "transfer floors," which means they help people move between different sets of elevators. Floor 16 is a very tall "mechanical floor" that holds equipment, so passenger elevators skip it. Floors 42 to 44 are also mechanical floors. The very top floor, level 45, used to be a place where people could go to see the city, like an observation deck, but it closed in the 1970s.
The very top 7 m (23 ft) of the tower is actually an open space that hides the rooms where the elevator controls are located on the roof. Without this extra part, the roof is about 184 m (604 ft) tall. The tower is the fifth tallest building in Montreal. An antenna on top makes its total height 250 m (820 ft), making it the tallest point in Montreal.
For many years, a French-language radio station called CKOI-FM used to broadcast its signal from the top of this building until the end of 2018.
Who Works in the Tower?
Many different companies and organizations have offices in the CIBC Tower. Some of the main tenants include:
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
- Euler Hermes
- Macquarie Group
- Russell Investments
- Stikeman Elliott LLP
- Vilaron Corporation
- Linkeo.com
- MNP LLP
- ACE Aviation Holdings
- Parkland Fuel Corporation
