First Canadian Place

First Canadian Place
First Canadian Place in 2014
Former names	First Bank Building
Alternative names	FCP
General information
Type	Commercial offices
Location	100 King Street West Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates	43°38′55″N 79°22′54″W / 43.648611°N 79.381667°W / 43.648611; -79.381667Coordinates: 43°38′55″N 79°22′54″W / 43.648611°N 79.381667°W / 43.648611; -79.381667
Completed	5 June 1975
Owner	Brookfield Office Properties
Management	Brookfield Office Properties
Height
Architectural	298.1 m (978 ft)
Tip	355 m (1,165 ft)
Top floor	289.9 m (951 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	72 4 below ground
Floor area	250,849 m2 (2,700,120 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators	61
Design and construction
Architect	Bregman + Hamann Architects Edward Durell Stone & Associates
Developer	Olympia and York
Main contractor	EllisDon Corporation
References

First Canadian Place (originally First Bank Building) is a skyscraper in the financial district of Toronto, Ontario, at the northwest corner of King and Bay streets, and is the location of the Toronto operational head office of the Bank of Montreal. At 298 m (978 ft), it is Canada's tallest skyscraper and the 15th tallest building in North America to structural top (spires) and 9th highest to the roof top, and the 105th tallest in the world. It is the third tallest free-standing structure in Canada, after CN Tower (also in Toronto) and the Inco Superstack chimney in Sudbury, Ontario. The building is owned by Brookfield Office Properties, putting it in co-ownership with the neighbouring Exchange Tower and Bay Adelaide Centre as well as various other office spaces across Downtown Toronto.

First Canadian Place is named for Canada's first bank, the Bank of Montreal. Designed by Bregman + Hamann Architects with Edward Durell Stone as design consultant, First Canadian Place was constructed in 1975, originally named First Bank Building, on the site of the Old Toronto Star Building and the Old Globe and Mail Building. The site was the last of corners of King and Bay to be redeveloped in the 1960s and 1970s, and a major bidding war began over the property. The then little known firm of Olympia and York eventually obtained nearly the whole city block, though the election of reformist mayor David Crombie led to new rules banning skyscrapers and it took three years of lobbying before permission for First Canadian Place was granted. When completed, the building was nearly identical in appearance to Stone's Aon Center in Chicago, Illinois; completed two years previous as the Standard Oil Building, the Chicago tower is of the same floor plan and clad in the same marble, the only overtly visible difference being the vertical orientation of the windows, as opposed to the horizontal run of those on First Canadian Place.