1913 – Canadian Pacific Building, Yonge Street, Toronto

Construction started in 1911 and was completed by 1913. When completed as corporate headquarters for the Canadian Pacific Railway, this was the tallest building in Canada and the British Empire. Designed in the then current style of a tripartite composition – a multi-floor base or plinth; the shaft; and the attic or attic storeys. The Canadian Pacific Building also featured four corner cupolas on top. Originally clad in terra cotta, a problem shortly after completion meant that the architects reclad the tower with Indiana limestone from the fourth floor up, with the original granite on the first three floors remaining untouched. By 1990 the original marble ticket office, illustrated, had been removed to make way for a drug store.

“The exterior has a pronounced vertical feeling subdued somewhat by the horizontal courses consisting of alternate plain and ornamented bands. The four corners are solidified by means of pier effects extending throughout the structure and finishing at the top with small domes. The first two stories are treated in Stanstead granite in a simple and dignified manner. As much space is allowed for the openings and window treatment as is consistent with the maintenance of an artistic and substantial design. From the third floor up the building consists of a light colored semi-glazed terra cotta. The third story illustrates the decorative use of this material; the panels between the windows as well as the cornice being extremely rich in design, while the effect is all the more striking by means of the subdued detail work throughout.

Above the third floor the eye is lifted upward by means of the piers, which run uninterrupted throughout the height of the structure. The various floors are indicated by moulded panel bands between the piers, which enrich the central feature of the building in keeping with the corner piers. At the fifteenth floor is the arcade effect which forms an ornate finish to the whole edifice. The balconies, the figures, the slender columns, t h e carving above all, tend to give the skyline an extremely rich character and form a pleasing contrast to the plain treatment of the first stories.

The building alone cost approximately $1,000,000 and consumed over two thousand tons of steel in construction. Caissons were sunk to bed rock, some forty feet below the surface. The foundation excavation was started October, 1 911, and the building ready for tenants March, 1913. Fireproof throughout, the wall columns are bricked in, interior columns covered with 2-inch terra cotta tile, wall beams and girders bricked in, and floors, roof, etc., of terra cotta arches. All windows are of steel frames and sash.

The ground floor is given over to the main office of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Passing through a large vestibuled entrance of marble and iron, one is immediately impressed with the airiness within. Extending 68 by 77 feet and reaching 25 feet in height, well lighted by means of the large window openings and skylights; accessible by means of four entrances; it affords the proper facilities for an institution of this nature. Ten large columns covered with Escalette marble support the richly panelled plaster ceiling. The walls are treated in various marbles; the dado being of Cippolino, the base of verte antique, the ten-inch belt of verte Tynos, the borders in verte Royal and Escalette, and the large panels in Jaune Royal. All flooring here and elsewhere is of pink Tennessee marble tiles; the counters, forty-two inches high, of verte Tynos. The main stair hall and elevator corridor is finished in marble and bronze; the stairs being of white Italian marble. The elevator grilles maintain the same dignified character of the exterior first story treatment. All corridors have marble tile flooring, with borders of verte antique and red Tennessee wainscot four feet six inches high of Jaune Royal marble. Lavatories are finished with tile flooring, marble stalls, wainscot and basin fittings. The woodwork throughout the building is mahogany.”
Construction, August 1913

Share!

More!