Favourite Bank of Montreal Regional Offices

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by Alexcaban

BMO HQ Montreal

Looks almost identical to Hamilton's Bank of Montreal. I'll try and find some interior photos.

Hamilton's former Bank of Montreal building is now a lawyers office.

[osmo]

They just don't build them like that anymore. Montreal is #1 for me. The quality and detail trump any height that others might have. Its probably one of the best classic buildings we have in the nation I fell.

For the towers I'll pick Vancouver and then Toronto. BMO has a good chunk of quality across the nation Winnipeg and Calgary are nice as well.

I hate FCP's gastly podium so Edmonton gets last even though it does look cool as a standalone.

[SteelTown]

City of Hamilton

You can see they added office cubicles and changed the chandeliers.

[Martin Mtl]

The Head Quarters of the Bank in Montreal on Place d'Armes includes the original building from 1845:








Then, there is the the extension from 1901-05 by fame New York architects McKim, Mead and White. Their work is better appreciated from the back:









The last extension, the modern tower, is a good exemple of modern 1950's style.



And, of course, there is the somptuous banking hall:











Source: http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca

So for me, it's Montreal all the way and Montreal only. That ensemble of building is a masterpiece.

[Darkoshvilli]

Wow.

[Chadillaccc]

It looks like a Greco/roman Temple...


I have actually always found it kind of funny how religious buildings were always the largest and most important structures and now it is financial buildings...

[MolsonExport]

We have a winner!

• Video Link

[Martin Mtl]

I forgot that the old Royal Trust building was bought by the Bank of Montreal in 1983 to add it to its HQ. So it's now part of the ensemble, making it even more impressive.










Source: http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/inve...ntr%E9al&sec=p

[Rico Rommheim]

Thank you martin, i now have an entire new appreciation for the HQ, which I now see as an ensemble of different architectural styles. The 1901 annex is especially striking, especially when seen from above.

[Dylan Leblanc]

Not a regional office, just a branch in downtown Victoria.


Bank of Montreal by ngawangchodron, on Flickr

older branch now a pub


Bank of Montreal - 1897 by Bob_2006, on Flickr

[The_Architect]

Old Bank of Montreal building at King and Bay, demolished for the First Canadian Place podium:




Being deconstructed, with the new First Canadian Place tower beside it:


Great picture of what used to be at King and Bay:


Clockwise from top left: former Bank of Toronto Building (replaced by TD Centre banking pavilion), former Bank of Montreal Building (replaced by First Canadian Place podium) and the Bank of Nova Scotia Building (still standing).

[Andy6]

The main Winnipeg branch of the Bank of Montreal, which was built in 1912-13, was also designed by McKim, Mead and White. It is consequently quite similar to the Montreal one (photos all mine):





Elevation along Portage Avenue East:



Here's a contemporary rendering from my collection:



I recall that McKim, Mead and White were also consulting architects on the 1983 tower addition. I don't have a great photo of that but it actually tries quite successfully to fit in with the old building when you look from the north side. That building replaced the 1960s-era Bank of Montreal Building next to Eaton's that is now called Newport Centre.

[Andy6]

Here's one I took on the way to work showing the Bank of Montreal building on Bay Street, Toronto -- the old one that managed to elude the Tepermans. It's about 10 floors with a not especially interesting shaft rising above this attractive base:

[digitboy]

Wow, looking at these pictures. I wonder if they still teach architecture in schools ? Or maybe it's just because we use cheaper materials and our new constructions are cost-oriented instead of classy and prestigious ?

[someone123]

Originally Posted by digitboy

Or maybe it's just because we use cheaper materials and our new constructions are cost-oriented instead of classy and prestigious ?

It is an interesting question. Construction technology has evolved a lot over the past 100 years. I think building costs have come down a lot, but partly at the expense of substituting in more standardized materials and construction techniques. I'm not sure a 1910-style building would be much cheaper to build today. Probably not as a one-off building, but maybe if reproducing that style with genuine materials were really important then it could be made cheaper (actually we could have stuff like computer-controlled milling of stone pieces today -- maybe we will see a return to a more ornate aesthetic if that style becomes more economical through automation).

It's also important to note how much the world has changed since this period. The average person living in Canada has a much higher standard of living and they get a lot more living space. Back in 1910 the stonemasons who made these ornate columns didn't get paid very much, and not many people actually got to work or live in nice buildings like this.

[kool maudit]

in the '50s, the idea that "the atomic age" and the consequent fear of nuclear annihilation, was a distinct component of modern architecture was pretty prominent. transparent buildings for a transient people and all that. that idea has since dissipated a bit, but it was once fairly huge.

'50s atomic panic is great stuff. burroughs had this filtered-through-ancient-egyptian-concepts rant about how nuclear death kills both the body AND the soul. heady, no?

[Dwils01]

Bank of Montreal has some office space in this building in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. The building is ok but it's not going to win any awards.


The main branch downtown doesn't look too bad. All the trees help it out a bit.


Pictures by me.

My favourite BMO buildings are:
Toronto
Vancouver
Calgary
Winnipeg
If BMO was still using the old branch in Hamilton it would be right up on the list with Toronto.

[eemy]

I quite like that branch building.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

I quite like that branch building.

I used to have an account in that Queen Street branch. Nice pic.

[DizzyEdge]

Old BoM in Calgary


http://www.flickr.com/photos/moriones/


http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcards/PC011996.html

which replaced this:


http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcards/PC011988.html