Place Bonaventure

Place Bonaventure is an office, exhibition, and hotel complex in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, adjacent to the city's Central Station. At in size, Place Bonaventure was the second largest commercial building in the world at the time of its completion in 1967. It is one of very few buildings in Canada to have its own postal code prefix, H5A. Place Bonaventure was first conceived as an exhibition hall, international trade centre, and hotel. The building covers an area of and is built over 18 CNR tracks leading to Central Station. Construction began in 1964, and was completed in 1967. Designed in the Brutalist style, the exterior walls are poured-in-place, ribbed sand-blasted concrete, with the interior walls sand-blasted concrete or brick. Concordia Hall was a exhibition hall. The first trade show was hosted in 1966, while the upper floors were still being constructed. Adjacent to this vast space are two large mezzanines. In 2020, it was announced that the exhibition hall would close (due to larger spaces available today, like the nearby Palais des congrès de Montréal [Montreal Convention Center]). When Place Bonaventure opened, there were five floors of wholesale suppliers above Concordia Hall, featuring fashions, home furnishings, and children's toys. An additional floor contained the offices of the principal trading nations of the world. At ground level there were two floors of retail shopping mall. All these uses disappeared over the years. In 1998 Place Bonaventure was renovated at an expense of 60 million CAD. The building was re-designed to offer large, continuous office space. Retail space was quite reduced. Windows were added to all four sides, on all floors, to allow light into the new office spaces. The building takes its name from Bonaventure Station, a former railway station located nearby. A planned expansion to the south was never constructed. Today, Place Bonaventure belongs to Kevric real estate corporation which owns many buildings in Montreal and Toronto.

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Related publications (1)

Pacemaker Montréal. Projet pour un bâtiment multifonctionnel comme initiateur d'une stratégie urbaine (Cité multimédia, Place Bonaventure et Griffintown; Montréal, Québec, Canada)

Alain Walther

En tant que quartier des gares, centre d'affaires et faubourg industriel longeant le canal de Lachine, la partie de ville considérée bourdonnait autrefois de vie. Mais les années 1960 ont amené une pression politique de modernisation et d'équipement dans tout le Québec, et un nouveau centre d'affaires s'est établi au Nord-Ouest de l'ancien. Depuis, un pont de chemin de fer et une autoroute avec sa rampe et ses entrées viennent couper les voies de l'ancien faubourg. La gare Bonaventure et la navigation sur le canal de Lachine ont disparus et l'énorme bâtiment multifonctionnel "Place Bonaventure" lui tourne le dos sans offrir de façade présentable, créant un no man's land au coeur d'une métropole de 3.5 millions d'habitants. Partant du bâtiment "Place Bonaventure" situé à la limite du nouveau centre d'affaires, marqué par un petit saut topographique, la réflexion sur le projet a entraîné le déplacement de la rampe de l'autoroute faisant place à un grand espace d'articulation sous forme d'un boulevard urbain à l'entrée de la ville.

2006