Ground Breaks on New Montreal Tower

Ground has been broken on Montreal’s first new privately owned commercial office tower to be built in more than 20 years.

Located on Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal, the 26-storey Deloitte Tower is set to rise to 436 feet upon completion and will stand between two Montreal landmarks, the Bell Centre and the heritage–designated Windsor Station.

Project owner Cadillac Fairview held a ground-breaking ceremony for the development last week.

Josh Chaiken, a design principal at architectural firm Khon Pedersen Fox Associates (KKPF), which designed the tower together with B+H Architects and Montreal based Lemay Associés, says the new development will weave effectively into the city’s environmental fabric.

“While basically square in plan, the tower massing is split in the north-south direction to create more elegantly proportioned volumes that respond to Montreal’s urban grain,” Chaiken said.

“The tower forms are sculpted with large facets and angled tops to produce a distinctive and recognizable urban presence, and to create a contemporary backdrop to the Windsor Station courtyard.”

Designed to be Montreal’s first LEED® Platinum (CS) office development, the tower is one pillar of a three part plan from Cadillac involving $2 billion in capital expenditure over fifteen years to turn the lands surrounding the Bell Centre into an integrated residential, commercial and entertainment centre in a vibrant commercial landscape.

The two other core elements of the plan include the Tour des Canadiens – which will integrate urban condominiums with sports and entertainment and will straddle the natural ridge between the mountain and the river. Once completed, it will become Montreal’s tallest residential building and will include five million square feet of residential, office and retail space in an area just south of Saint-Antoine Street.

Cadillac Fairview senior vice president of development and portfolio management for Eastern Canada Salvatore Iacono said the development is ideally located with good proximity to transport links.

He noted that the new tower will be consistent with global demand for space that is flexible, comfortable, efficient and sustainable.

The tower is set to open in the summer of 2015.

By Andrew Heaton