Toronto-Dominion Centre

The Toronto-Dominion Centre is a large cluster of buildings in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Toronto-Dominion Bank, as well as many other businesses. 21,000 people work in the complex, making it the largest in Canada.

Design

The complex, designed by Mies van der Rohe in consultation with the local Toronto firms of John B. Parkin and Associates and Bregman and Hamann, originally consisted of two towers and the banking pavilion. Though the official opening was in 1967, the first structure to be completed was the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower in that year. At 222.8 metres tall, it was at the time the tallest building in Canada, and remains the fifth-largest building in Toronto. The completion of the Banking Pavilion and the Royal Trust Tower followed, the former in 1968 and the latter in 1969. It is stated that the original buildings of the Toronto-Dominion Centre are the finest corporate towers created by Mies van der Rohe as he died in 1969, before their completion, making them the last, and therefore most refined, of his development of this building type since the Seagram Building in New York City (completed 1958).

Related Topics:
Mies van der Rohe - John B. Parkin and Associates - 1967 - 1968 - 1969 - Seagram Building - New York City - 1958

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mies van der Rohe arranged the three structures on a granite plinth (a common tactic for most of his later urban projects), with the Banking Pavilion anchoring the site at the corner of King and Bay Streets. The Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower sat to the south on Wellington Street, and the Royal Trust tower closed off the north-west boundary. The buildings are confined to a rigid structural grid set out across the plinth's top, and each is offset to the one next to them by exactly one bay of the grid, allowing views to 'slide' open or closed as one moves through the site. On the north side, within the space created by the situation of the towers and pavilion, a large granite plaza provided a formal entry to the complex. In 2004 this courtyard was named Oscar Peterson Square. Blurring the distinction between interior and exterior, the granite surface of the plaza extends through the glass lobbies of the towers and through the Banking Pavilion. On the south, cornered by the Toronto-Dominion and Royal Trust Towers, was a large lawn. These were the first examples of public outdoor space within the urban core of Toronto. They, combined with the slightly later Nathan Phillips Square, proved to be very successful and welcome outdoor areas for downtown Torontonians to gather.

Related Topics:
2004 - Oscar Peterson - Nathan Phillips Square

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~