Old Royal Bank Building, Montreal
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The Royal Bank building at 360 Saint-Jacques Street was built in 1926-1928 and was then the tallest building in the British Empire. The 22-storey tower was built by the firm of York and Sawyer.
[edit] History
In 1907 the Royal Bank of Canada moved its head office from Halifax to Montreal. As the building in Saint-Jacob Street turned out to be too small, in 1926 the board of directors of the biggest bank in Canada hired New York architects York and Sawyer to build a prestigious new building on Saint-Jacques Street. Between 1920 and 1926 the bank had bought up all the property between Saint-Jacques, Saint-Pierre, Notre-Dame and Dollard Streets to demolish all the buildings there (including an old Mechanics' Institute and the ten-storey Bank of Ottawa building) in order to make space for the new 22-storey skyscraper. The tower was built in 1926-1928 and was for a long time the tallest building in the British Empire.
In 1962, the Royal Bank moved its main office to another famous Montreal building, Place Ville-Marie. The Royal Bank still keeps a branch in the impressive main hall of the old building, which is definitely a must-see in Old Montreal.
