After
the CN Tower, BCE Place is the second most distinctive
piece of Toronto's skyline. It is actually several
buildings connected by a shopping mall, but from a
skyline perspective it is the Canada Trust Tower and
its sibling the Bay Wellington tower that steal the
show. Their bases are covered with pink granite, and
the windows are tinted green. Both towers are designed
as round buildings made up of square surfaces. Think
of making a miniature round skyscraper out Legos --
lots of jagged edges. This has the artistic effect
of giving the building a uniqueness among Toronto's
other more sedate buildings. It has the economic effect
of giving the owners 12 corner offices of some floors
that they can lease at a premium. The Canada
Trust Tower is 51 stories tall and owned by Brookfield
Commercial Properties, OMERS Realty, and Truscan Property
Corporation. This is the building with the big red
icon at the top. The second tower is 47 stories tall
and actually looks like a double tower from certain
angles. It is owned by exclusively by Brookfield Commercial
Properties. All of this might be lost on the average
person on the street. That's because while the development
is new, it did not completely raze the history of
the area. Those buildings that survived the Great
Fire of 1904 have been restored to their original
1850's grandeur and incorporated into the street-level
design. Looking up you might see the renovated Bank
of Montreal façade, but never see the towers looming
beyond. But those towers are what makes this place
unique in Canada and the rest of the world. The engineers
thought it would be pretty important to preserve this
landmark, too. Their notes for the towers include
a mention of using a tube-in-tube structural system
in order to counter the forces of both wind and earthquakes.
Southern Ontario isn't known for its tremors, but
better safe than sorry. Another jewel in this architectural
crown is the Galleria. Like many other Gallerias in
cities from Poughkeepsie to Dallas
to Houston,
this is an upscale shopping mall. But its design is
that of a crystal cathedral of commerce. Designed
by Santiago Caltrava, it is 85-feet high, 45-feet
wide, and 380-feet from end to end.
