First Canadian Place
Toronto, Canada

HEIGHT: 298m/978 feet
FLOORS: 72
COMPLETION: 1975
ARCHITECT: Edward Durell Stone and Associates

The tallest building in Canada, the 72-storey First Canadian Place incorporates the Bank of Montreal's head office. Its innovative perimeter structural steel tube design is unique both in its highly efficient use of steel, and for an ease of assembly that enabled the building to be constructed very quickly, an extremely important economic factor in the pressurized development and real-estate climate of Toronto in the late 1970s.

The design resulted in large floor plates of approximately 30,000 square feet of virtually column-free space. The complex also includes a three-level banking shopping and entertainment podium and a five-acre landscaped park 35 feet above street level.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/firstcan01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/firstcan02.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/firstcan03.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/firstcan04.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/firstcannight.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/skyscraperrot/firstcanbase.jpg

8/10 White Makes stand out. Not anything special

i like the horizontal repetition, rather than Aon's vertical .. makes it look taller .. . 7/10

7.5/10

Nice and massive but a bit dull.

8.0/10

a fine skyscraper (remember boxes are my favorites), but i much, much prefer Aon's vertical emphasis. Aon soars into the heavens and looks incredibly tall in person because of this soaring aspect. the horizontal of FCP makes it a little more clunky and less graceful. but it is still a very solid and sturdy design. and reentrant corners are always a nice and subtle touch.

Plain, boxy and dull. It is somewhat more impressive than Aon Center in Chicago though.

7.5/10

Yawwwn, no I don't like this one at all I'm afraid. 5/10 for height

7/10. It's a box.

I don't like it, and I never will. It's a corporate box, pure and simple. At least it is an honest design, that doesn't attempt to reach stratospheric hieghts with anemic spires. It looks like something that you would expect to see in Houston or Chicago IMO.


6.0/10

I agree its not impressive, but when you see it in person it kind of grows on you.

8/10

Dull and uninspiring...5/10

O.K. box. I agree that it looks better in person. 7.5.

5/5, i think the colour is abit.... dull
but then its huge!

I like it.

8/10

It's just a dull box.

5/10

another boring box.
3/10

Yeah, its a dull box but i rate it 6/10...

God this thing is ugly. It does nothing interesting and looks like a construction trailer on end. Height does not even matter here for me as I wish this buiding could be hidden or reclad.

Aon in Chicago is much more successful IMO.

3/10

pretty boring building, ill give it a 5, since its pretty tall

tallest in canada... gotta get some respect. 7/10

so not worthy of being the tallest.......... think I've said this before, but Scotia Plaza - now THAT's worthy of the prestige of tallest in Canada ;)

6

tays

6/10
a different color would make it better!

boxes don't interest me at all.

7/10

6/10 - Another box, a lot like the Aon center in Chicago.
It's slender, and has good height; the indentations at the corners help the shape, and the facade dances with the light, at least from some angles.

Vertical strips on the facade would helpd the height more, however, as would some setbacks. And I still am not cracy about flat roofs...

even though I'm a box enthusiast this one is average although it's got height....7.5/10.

Boxy, plain, and I'm sure that the Toronto forumers agree that it could use a big clean up, just like how the Aon building in Chicago was cleaned. I'll give it some respect for being the tallest in Canada, 7/10.

6/10

boring...............

its a classic... tastefully done. 9.5/10.

Dull, boring, dirty, box that hasn't aged well... 6/10

I don't like any of the skyscapters in Toronto at all~.. they are not distinctive.. and boring... Motreal has much better skyscapter then Toronto guy~ Most of the skyscapters in Toronto are too conservtive..... Come on, they should desing some weird staff like the new proposals for WTC~ he he he

6.5/10

A bad building. Its hugely expensive Italian marble cladding is discolouring and being replaced piece by piece. It will take years to complete this operation. It is ugly, the windows are too small (I used to work there) and the lobby is hideously ostentatious (think Zsa Zsa Gabor, for those old enough to know who that is). The adjacent banking hall is as bad as the TD banking hall across the street is great. Just a disaster; despite the fact that it's been Canada's tallest for over 25 years, it's pretty much unknown outside Toronto (even many Torontonians who don't get downtown much have to have it described to them before they figure out what building you're talking about.)

6/10. Not terribly ugly, but not a beauty queen either. I like the cut corners, but I think Canada needs a prettier building to be called Canada's tallest office building.

Boring, but on the same time very nice, hard to explain. 8/10

Yeah it's a box,yeah it's dull.But! It's tall!
Hmm 6.5/10

7/10 Yes it's a boring box, but it's massive looking in person, and I agree, it could use a clean-up.

Dull boring box, but that blue logo (visible in the Chicago waterfront scene in that crappy Fat Greek Wedding movie) has always done something for me....and all my money is in there.

7.5

I think its good for the 1970s-nice height. clean design. 8/10

Ugh. It's the Aon nightmare all over again. This disaster is the centerpiece of the extraordinarly drab Toronto skyline. For being such a dynamic city, it sure has a boring skyline. 3/10

7.5/10

Boxy but elegant

Guess I'm boring by repeating that it's boring....

Give it a 6.5.

Box alert!! :rant:

This is simply the smaller version of AON.. Umimpressive to the core >(

6/10

6.5 Not so sexy even for a psuedo box.

7/10...Looks too much like the Aon Center in Chicago. You gotta like the black and white combo, and the horizontal lines going across. You have to appreciate the height and it's title of being the tallest in Canada.

Another Toronto box. 6

Another Toronto box. 6

right........get a clue man....don't judge by a couple of pictures you've seen.

7.5/10
Not my favourite Toronto skyscraper, but quite impressive. :)

simple building..at appereance

5/10

6

I like tall boxes, and this one is quite good. 7.5/10

4/10

It's a dull box. Plain windows and color. It isn't nearly as good as Aon Center, because Aon is in a good location and is right next to Two Prudential Plaza. What is even more pathetic is that it can be the tallest building in a "skyscraper capital" like Toronto.

not my style of facade


6

7/10

Saying this is just a dull box building is a little easy.

Remember - this was built in 1975 - I would agree with all comments if this was built in 1990.

First Canadian Place was build with the idea of creating the largest possible open floor plans that they could - and did. In the seventies this was the style for buildings - sleek and 'modern', the colours and building material are also reflective of the times.

I'm not saying that they are beautiful - but you must respect them in the context of when the building was built.

First Canadian Place is one of first modern skyscrapers.

Remember - this was built in 1975 - I would agree with all comments if this was built in 1990.

ummm urban...You should see some buldngs in New York city they were built around early 1900's and it looks much better than this canada building

Originally posted by waterloo

ummm urban...You should see some buldngs in New York city they were built around early 1900's and it looks much better than this canada building

He does have a point in that the late 60's through the 70's yielded some of the worst corporate boxes ever conceived in North America. Unfortunately we have a virtual sea of those in NYC next to the pre-war beauties.;)

But saying this; "First Canadian Place is one of the first modern skyscrapers" is going a bit too far. Glass boxes with large floor plates came onto the scene decades before First Canadian, including in Toronto.

I never liked this one. In fact, it's my least favourite in Toronto.

Its facade is begining to wear, and its base looks like a shopping mall on the outside. If they set back the base from the street and brought stores on the inside, outside, then may be we would have more street life in Toronto's CBD after hours.

If they fixed it up, It would appeal to me more.

5/10

Ugly One ! 5.5/10 ! :puke:

I'm not trying to defend it as a master piece but you have to understand the time and reason for the construction.

I just think it's unfair to judge this building to buildings built in the late 80's and 90's.

I understand what your talking about urban....I can remember when they built it. This was the flagship of the Reichman empire...at that time, this was as good as it got, and was excactly what the market called for.

As the 8th tallest building in the world when it was built, and with E. D. Stone as the architect, and the sea of marble inside and out....and it's mixed-use base....this was pretty impressive at the time.

The big drawback for it, was the fact the CN Tower was u/c at the same time, and stole it's thunder in terms of tall structures.

It does exude the powerful, conservative Bay St bank-building feeling it was intended to, but looking at it as just a member of the skyline....it has not aged well at all (even before you consider the falling apart marble facade).

It's MINT neighbours like Mies's TD and Pei's CIBC are gems today...and even the late 70's RBP is still the great glowing jewel....they have all aged very well....FCP might still tower over them, but has really lost it's standing in the style dept.






KGB

Royal Bank Plaza is a gem, but Commerce Court West? What makes it any better than First Canadian Place? CCW is also a box except that it's clad in stainless steel. FCP makes more of a statement as part of the Toronto skyline than CCW, and not just because of its height, although that is the main factor.

Yes....CCW is extremely good. But with the international style, it's the very subtle details that make all the difference between masterpieces and mediocre. And I also think it takes a much more sophisticated eye for architecture to see it, which I think explains why a lot of people see this building as no different than the run-of-the-mill modern buildings of the period out there.

Not trying to be a snob, just pointing out that the subtle design features of buildings that are intended to be sparse on detail are far less obvious to detect, and even more difficult to design.


Other styles were much easier to build "attractive" examples...Modern was very difficult, which is why many fail.




KGB

CCW is not extremely good. Holy hyperbole Batman! I hope you are not suggesting that it's a masterpiece. If anything, it's mediocre. KGB, you would be hard-pressed to find five people that agree with what you said in your last post.

Aesthetics don't require sophisticated, elitist, snobby qualifications in order to be appreciated. Yes, one could argue that architectural aesthetics are objective, but at the same time, there is no denying that there are shapes, colours, and proportions which are pleasing to the eye, regardless of who is viewing them. CCW exhibits few, if any, of these qualities. Okay, I'm overstating things, but it is a very average building. It is functional, and it's definitely not an eyesore, however, it accomplishes this by being bland and ordinary.

While it is just a box, at least it's different than the other boxes that make up the Toronto skyline. The colour of the stainless steel and glass complements the other buildings in the vicinity. For that reason alone, I suppose it's an integral part of the Toronto skyline. As an individual building I don't find it very interesting, but as a part of the skyline, it's okay.

I don't hate the CCW, but I think it's the least impressive of the Toronto bank buildings. Of course this is just one man's opinion, and I could be wrong. We'll just have to agree to disagree. Anyway, I digress; this thread is supposed to be about FCP.

Nothing interesting, but is tall, I like that 7/10

Boxy!
Nothing special
But it looks clean

8/10


Nice tower, but nothing special.

7/10

7/10
Looks good enough for a Simple straight box. No great work of architecture.

5/10

A different box, is not very classic , seems to be cheap is not elegant 8/10 For the year of construction

"seems to be cheap"

You could critisize FCP on a number of points....but being cheap is not one of them. It was a top-of-the-line AAA office building.





KGB

8/10

Mmm.. not a bad box.. :)

it seems pretty boring but something about it makes it stand out... :D

8

8

7.5/10 tall but still boring...

10/10

aww...it's not that bad, it has a real sleek look to its facade. pretty nice for an international-style era skyscraper. but i think trump toronto is more worthy to be the tallest in toronto. 8/10

I know it's plain a and boxy but it's a magnificent scraper! There's just something about the simplicity and whiteness that gives the building a glorious purity. My favourite in Canada, not just because it's the tallest, but because for some reason it's very appealing to me. I also think the logo of the BMO is very fitting, I like the blue and white combination--even if almost negligible--.

They should whiten the plates, also some of them are missing...that's a bit of a downer.

10/10

no special,but its high and quite beautiful
7/10

If I were to judge this building from pictures alone i'd give it a 6 or 7... but man, in person it's truly beautiful

9

very nice box 7.5/10

7/10

To paraphrase One Human from earlier, average building, great in skyline. I agree. Not a horrendous box, like the color and the lines, and the sheer height you feel by looking up at it from the base. Solid design, but not spectacular. (Does anyone find it humorous that a wine-drinker icon, Bank of Montreal, is headquartered in Toronto? So much for Quebec pride).

my favourite box.. 8.5/10 :)

6.5

If you like stripes it's ok, I don't like stripes. 6

never seen anything more boring and dull! 0

Striking simple design. 7/10.

Boring: 7/10!

7.5/10
Its height is incredible ... but the design is rather unimaginative. It looks awesome at night though.

6/10

7

Good for Toronto ;)

8.0

7,5/10 - Nice B0X

Now this is a boring building. 5/10

very nice box 8/10

5/10 - nothing out of the ordinary

It's a nice box, but it doesn't pull-off the box as well as Aon. The horizontal banding of windows makes it look fatter. This is opposed to Aon, whose vertical striping slims the tower and makes it appear even taller, by making the floors less obvious it looses scale. I looks like it goes on forever. FCP doesn't do this, so it always appears to be 70 stories. 8/10

Pure classic and Toronto just wouldn't be the same withought it. I also love it to death!! 10/10

7.5 I liked it

It's a good, solid scraper and I like it!
8.5/10

7.5/10 only because it is tall

Elegant... 10 points

:cheers:

It's tall, and that's the only thing I can say about it.

Nothing special... 6/10

its definately better horizontal than vertical, I was never a fan of Aon in Chicago. 7.5/10

5.5/10

Extremely elegant, no argument there. 10/10

7,5/10

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20050123/DSCN6685.jpg

It looks so white in that pic HK! 8/10

Not a very good TB for Canada. Too original and slightly tacky. I give it a 5.5/10. :(

Cheap-looking, ugly white eyesore. A disgrace.

An okay okay scraper.7.

nice and elegant 7

For a box I really like it. 9/10

They couldn't build Scotia Plaza taller than this
outdated slab of bleached marble/granite/limestone
or whatever material they used?

Thank God for the CN Tower! 5.5/10

I'm not a box fan, but this isn't the worst I've seen. It's definitely a product of its time and already looks a little dated. On the whole it's respectable but nothing special. 6.5/10

just a plain box, only 7 from me

A box, but with some class. I like the colors and the striped cladding, which is quite good quality. The angles work well. Good height. It's a bit boring but it's not bad at all.
6.5

7.5/10

the corners are good and the rest of building is also not bad in a 60's context.It's just not my kind of building...

8/10

8/10 Aon Center Chicago is more elegant.

Boring. 6.

7/10

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20050624/RIMG0284.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20050624/RIMG0283.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20050624/RIMG0273.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20050624/RIMG0272.jpg

10/10

Boring box. I don't like it, like many of Toronto's towers. 4.5/10.

Quite nice box. And very tall ;) 8/10

ugly box 5/10

5/10

Nice white facade, 9/10

6.5/10.

not bad since its TO's tallest.
9

7/10. Too boxy. Just an ordinary skyscraper.

I like these kind of boxes - simple yet elegant. A classic skyscraper.
9/10

Nice building although pretty old tall enough for a 9.5

9/10 Admittedly, on it's own it may just be a white box but it blends in extremely well with its surroundings and is gorgeous by night. I could see it from my hotel room when I was there in March and I think it's one of the best in Toronto.

Tall but small windows. nothin special. 7.5

It's average but tall, 7.5/10

9.5/10. Magnificant in its simplicity. Perfect sleek and clean facade, towering height and the cut out corners really make it. And great name for the tallest building in Canada.

so general....

the tallest of canada , good high but not very original structure

7/10

7.5/10

7/10

7.5/10

7,5/10

all the love 8/10

all the respect to the tallest building in canada .

I don't like it, it's too plain white and boxy, really boring.

6/10

7/10.

8/10

8/10 it looks taller than it really is, i dont' really like box forms but this one's alright

Looks nice but boring. At least his height makes it a bit impressive. But I tend to think it's better than some recent stuff that don't resemble anything.

Should be good as a part of a skyline, but it looses it interests on its own.

7/10

A dull 7

Plain and boring box, but I must give this skyscraper props because The Toronto skyline wouldn't look great without this. Plus, I really like this scraper at night, it's almost fully lit up everytime I see it.

Tall, white and dull. Messy top with those antennae.

6/10

Cheers,

Adam

i do like boxes, simple and sleek. The edges add a cool touch,
8.5/10

Nothing extra special 8/10

7/10...

It appears as if none of the shots from the beginning are showing up

http://static.flickr.com/26/52600157_9b4ffe8b0d_o.jpg

I give FCP a solid 9. It's been the tallest for quite a while and it really does soar. Counting the antenna that are affixed to the roof, it would be well over 350m.Though I do prefer black more than white, FCP's white marble is quite nice and certainly adds to the building's quality. Underground, FCP has the best shopping of any of the skyscrapers of Toronto's financial district.

7/10 :)

8.5/10. Beautifully basic.

8/10!... nice pic Skybean

7/10.

7/10 a tall box but bland

5.5/10 huge box

A tall but boring tower. 6/10

Its a box, its a little bit boring but tall as hell. It works. sort of. for toronto
i like it
8.5/10

4/10 Classic Box, don't look, it will hurt your eyes

4,5/10

8/10

6/10

7/10...

nothing special but love the height... a major focus point of the Toronto skyline and FCP gives Bay Street it's powerful image.

i love it , tall boxy building 8/10

Very nice looking box!

5/10

6/10

too simple. 4/10

8/10 tall and massive but nothing special.

Huge box without any special features...Even it's date of built and height don't make a difference. 3/10

nice box 7.5/10

i love it, 9/10

6.5/10

they should have done something about the top.

I accidentaly clicked 3 or less

If it had more gloss it would rate more with me
7.5/10

7.5/10

7/10

7/10.

One of my favourite skyscrapers in the world. Looks somewhat like what Twin Towers looked like.

10/10

8.5

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20060527/IMG_0180.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20060527/IMG_0157.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/toronto/20060527/IMG_0205.jpg

4.5/10

5 / 10

Once again.

http://static.flickr.com/26/52600157_9b4ffe8b0d_o.jpg

6/10

9/10

i love this tower

this buildings amazing in person, but not the most photogenic building

solid building
7/10

Would suit more or less any big city in the world.

6/10

i like it because it' tall

Nice 8/10 !

Bland, uninspired, no redeeming qualities during the day. It's decent at night. The building feels cold and uninviting, don't like how it meets the street. It looks even worse when the white marble is dirty. 3.5/10

Takes the shine off its boxy sister, TD Tower.

Here's a pic by me.

http://static.flickr.com/100/294790305_0452446503_o.jpg

8/10

one of the buildings you can count floors til 30 without mistaking, then, you probably end up counting 90

7.5

^^ lol. 9/10 for height, 3.5/10 for design.. overall 6/10

6/10

Huge box.

not a bad box
6.5/10

7.5 boxy.

What can I say, my personal favorite due to being born a Torontonian (and I love boxscrapers). I also have to admit that I liked seeing one of my photos being used in this thread years before I read it LOL)...

With that said, the building has pretty much stood up for itself. Was the sixth tallest in the world until 1982 (Chrysler Building fans may want to argue that one, but going by World Encyclopedia stats from the 80's :) )

The design of eight corner offices per floor was brilliant! I'll also miss the the original 'Blue M'...

I know it's not the worlds best skyscraper, but I know it's among the best...

10

4.5 / 10

standard cookie cutter block.

not very consistant........:2cents: :lol:

it's a box....................7 because the corners are cut out

Hogtown's height king.Don't know why,but I like it.8/10.

box 7/10

This box was built almost 40 years ago.........yikes.. it still looks very modern in my opinion.

its a great city, but individually the buildings are nothing out of this world.
6/10

7.5 for its height.

tall :D

boxy but i love it

Its ok. 6.5

its got height; design not too bad

what can I say.. 4

7/10

beauty

7.5/10

grand but boring at the sametime 5/10

Bog standard scraper. It's what skylines are made of but does not 'make' them. 7/10

6.5 The scale of this building stops you in your tracks and the podium cements in your mind that you in the midst of something powerful and monied. The podium is, in fact, better than the tower. This building is grand, but evokes little other feeling in me.

what's wrong with boxy??? i've loved this building since i was a kid. but i do admit toronto needs some new skyscrapers.

8.5/10

Just a simple skyscraper and i do not like the materials they used. His height is nice. 6,5/10

8/10

It's okay... I'm not big on boxy designs.

it's a great city... 10!!!

6,5/10

it's a great city... 10!!!

city doesn't make the skyscraper, brah...this just CAN'T be a 10 anymore.

In January, chunks of the Gardner Expressway came crashing down. In March, it was ice on the CN Tower. And who could forget when part of a billboard ad injured a man after falling at Yonge and Dundas. On Tuesday, yet another dangerous incident took place after a huge slab of marble fell some 60 floors from the tower at First Canadian Place. Incredibly, the huge rock didn't hit anyone as it plummeted to the street below, but officials have no idea if that's the only piece that's loose.

As a result, police have closed down a section of King St. West from York to Bay. No pedestrian or vehicular traffic is being allowed through until further notice. It's not clear what caused the mishap. There was no construction going on at the time.

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_11033.aspx

I just heard about that, that's really really dangerous. I wonder what's going to happen now???

that's a 4

7.5/10

6.5/10. Very very dull and boring. The only good thing really is it's height.

7 - dull.

8.5 / 10


Simple but nice, and Canada's tallest! :)

Quite Dull and average so I vote 5/10. The good thing is the height, and works as a centre piece.

Quite boxy 7/10...

Nothing special at all. 6.5/10

massive box 6/10

7/10