August 2025.
This post continues from Place Phillips in Montreal and that street’s intersection with Boulevard Rene-Levesque. We’ll proceed southward from there down said boulevard.
500 Rene-Levesque West
This Postmodern building dates to 1983 and was designed by Le Groupe Arcop. It occupies the site of the Architect Building, which was built in 1932 by the firm Ross & Macdonald and demolished in the 1950s to widen Boulevard Rene-Levesque. 500 Rene-Levesque West was built for and occupied by the Quebec government for much of the building’s lifetime, but it was sold in 2007 and is currently used by the Olympics committee (based on the torch statue out front and rings on top of the building).
600 Boulevard Rene-Levesque West
A late Art Deco design built between 1946 and 1949, this building was intended for a utilities company upon opening. My source says it was designed by “Archibald, Illsey et Perry.” It has a bare Indiana limestone facade with slight Bonnacord granite accents on the base. It is still an office building today.
The entrance has been altered to a Postmodern design, and I bet the windows are also replacements.
Telus Tower/CIL House
Historic view of the building, including some construction photos. (Facebook)
I don’t really care for International-style skyscrapers like this one very much, since they rip off Mies's original architecture, but it’s a good idea of this area’s urban fabric (since much of it is more modern buildings). I wish I had focused more on 1 Place Ville Marie, which I think is more interesting aesthetically.
Telus Tower’s main tenant was originally Canadian Industries Limited, which received naming rights to the building (hence the earlier name CIL/C-I-L House). It was designed by Gordon Bunshaft, partner of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill best known for his design of the Lever House. The building was completed in 1962, standing 445 feet and 34 stories tall.
Early on in its history, Telus Tower became a secondary headquarters for BMO, as the financial district was shifting from Old Montreal at the time and away from their main branch. BMO still operates a branch there, but most of the occupants have shifted over time. Royal Trust received naming rights to the tower for a time, and it is currently named after telecommunications company Telus. It was mostly recently renovated in 2014.
The Ring
Montreal’s sculpture known as “The Ring” is essentially its own version of Chicago’s Bean--something tourists love but locals are indifferent about or even dislike. It is mounted to frame views of the city to the east and Mount Royal to the west (as seen above) and was designed by landscape architect Claude Cormier. It was installed around 2022 or 2023 (sources say “two years after the pandemic”) and manufactured by local artisans.
A lot of locals are pretty skeptical of its design and installation, as it is perceived to be too expensive and was at least partially financed by taxpayer money.
BDC Building
I think this is one of the more interesting Modern buildings in Montreal. The BDC Building is an I. M. Pei design that dates to 1968. The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has occupied the building since 1994. The curvy, stout piers that support the blue glass shaft of the building is a more late Modern sensibility, and I like the color that the design achieves.
Former John Macdonald Monument
At Place du Canada sits this monumental Beaux-Arts structure that obviously was intended for a statue. It was originally installed in 1895 and was sculpted by George Edward Wade. The original statue depicted John Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister. He is a controversial figure today due to his establishment of residential schools to “assimilate” Indigenous Canadians into society and his racist views towards Asian immigrants, as well as his role in Canada’s colonial legacy. Many statues in other towns were removed or vandalized, and Montreal’s statue was frequently vandalized beginning in 2017.
In 2020, during protests after the murder of George Floyd in the United States by a police officer, the statue faced increasing calls for removal. In a protest on August 29, the statue was toppled and vandalized, leading to its inadvertent decapitation. The mayor originally condemned the actions and stated the statue would be restored and reinstalled, but in 2023 it was decided that it would be installed elsewhere.
1000 de La Gauchetiere
1000 de La Gauchetiere is Montreal’s tallest building, excluding the spire of 1250 Rene-Levesque, which rises higher. It is a Postmodern skyscraper designed by Lemay & Associates and Dimakopoulos & Associates, and it responds to Chateau Champlain’s arched windows and Mary, Queen of the World’s dome in its design. The building was completed in 1992.
Chateau Champlain
This is the first Expo 67-related building in this blog’s coverage of Montreal so far. Chateau Champlain was built by Canada Pacific’s hotel division to accommodate travelers visiting the exposition, and its location immediately adjacent to Windsor Station and arched windows are both not accidents. It was designed by Roger D’Astous and Jean-Paul Pothier in the Brutalist style and opened in January 1967, standing 456 feet high.
Next up is Dorchester Square, which is immediately west of where we ended on Boulevard Rene-Levesque.
Sources:
https://www.imtl.org/montreal/building/500-Rene-Levesque.php?id=1055
https://www.imtl.org/edifices/Architect-Building.php
https://www.imtl.org/montreal/building/600_boulevard_Rene-Levesque_Ouest.php
https://www.facebook.com/419537874856875/photos/a.419864671490862/2631133630363944/?type=3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telus_Tower_(Montreal)
https://www.redbourne.ca/en/properties/place-telus
https://placevillemarie.com/en/the-ring
https://www.reddit.com/r/montreal/comments/11teanj/the_giant_ring_of_montreal/
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