The KPMG Tower & Other Quebec Curios

Montreal_KPMG_Tower, By MTL Skyline

Built in 1987, the KPMG Tower boasts thirty-four storeys and a grand height of 146 m. Like one of its architectural siblings, 1501 McGill College, the KPMG Tower was built by architectural firm WZMH Architects in the postmodernist style and features a similar design of glass and granite. It is an older sibling, however, 1501 McGill College being competed about five years later.

Initially, the KPMG Tower was called the Maison des Coopérants, after the construction group of the same name. As one of many buildings in Ville-Marie, the tower connects to the Underground City, with its closest metro station being McGill metro station. Its basement is the Promenades Cathédrale, a major shopping centre that connects to Complexe les Ailes and the Hudson’s Bay department store. Promenades Cathédrale itself is built under Christ Church Cathedral, an Anglican church dating back to the early 1800s. The combination of an old church with a new shopping centre required careful planning in order to keep the superstructure intact, and meant supporting it on cement piles.

Not surprisingly, the big-name tenant in the tower is the legal firm, KPMG, but it also houses many other tenants including another high-profile law firm, Blake, Cassels & Graydon. The KPMG Tower was awarded the BOMA building of the year award for architectural excellence in 2013.

Visit the KPMG Tower at 600 boulevard de Maisonneuve ouest.