Place Ville Marie ( PVM for short) is a large office and shopping complex skyscraper in Downtown Montreal , Quebec , Canada, comprising four office buildings and an underground shopping plaza . The main building, 1 Place Ville Marie (formerly Royal Bank Tower from its anchor tenant), was built in the International style in 1962 as the headquarters for the Royal Bank of Canada . While RBC's corporate headquarters and the majority of its management operations have been based in Toronto's Royal Bank Plaza since 1976, Place Ville Marie remains RBC's head office, a distinct title from its corporate headquarters. It is a 188 m (617 ft), 47- storey , cruciform office tower. The complex is a nexus for Montreal's Underground City , the world's busiest, with indoor access to over 1,600 businesses , numerous subway stations , a suburban transportation terminal , and tunnels extending throughout downtown. A counter-clockwise rotating beacon on the rooftop lights up at night, illuminating the surrounding sky with up to four white horizontal beams that can be seen as far as 50 kilometres (31 mi) away. This beacon is not considered as a NAVAID for aviation purposes.
100-468: The name "Place Ville Marie" is often used to refer to the cruciform building only, but it also applies to four shorter office buildings which were built around it in 1963 and 1964, and to the urban plaza which lies on top of the largest section of the shopping promenade, and between the buildings. From a postal point of view the cruciform tower is "1, Place Ville Marie" and the lesser buildings around it are "2, Place Ville Marie" and so on. The buildings and
200-402: A 2001 study deemed it as Canada's most creative neighbourhood because artists comprise 8% of its labour force. The neighbourhood of Mile End in the northwestern part of the borough has been a very multicultural area of the city, and features two of Montreal's well-known bagel establishments , St-Viateur Bagel and Fairmount Bagel . The McGill Ghetto is in the extreme southwestern portion of
300-483: A 3,000,000-square-foot (280,000 m ) building in Chicago, at the time the largest building in the world. The time and motion study , pioneered in manufacturing by F. W. Taylor and later applied to the office environment by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth , led to the idea that managers needed to play an active role in directing the work of subordinates to increase the efficiency of the workplace. F.W. Taylor advocated
400-478: A daily average ranging from −10.5 to −9 °C (13.1 to 15.8 °F) in January. However, some winter days rise above freezing, allowing for rain on an average of 4 days in January and February each. Usually, snow covering some or all bare ground lasts on average from the first or second week of December until the last week of March. While the air temperature does not fall below −30 °C (−22 °F) every year,
500-751: A garrison of 390 men 40 miles upriver in a garrison at Les Cèdres, Quebec , to defend Montreal against the British army. In the Battle of the Cedars , Bedel's lieutenant Isaac Butterfield surrendered to George Forster. Forster advanced to Fort Senneville on May 23. By May 24, Arnold was entrenched in Montreal's borough of Lachine . Forster initially approached Lachine, then withdrew to Quinze-Chênes . Arnold's forces then abandoned Lachine to chase Forster. The Americans burned Senneville on May 26. After Arnold crossed
600-515: A lot of concentration, or include many small meetings. Shared office : a compact, semi-private workspace designed for two or three individuals, facilitating both focused work and small group collaboration. Team room : an enclosed workspace for four to ten people; suitable for teamwork that may be confidential and demands frequent internal communication. Study booth : an enclosed workspace for one person; suitable for short-term activities that demand concentration or confidentiality. Work lounge :
700-1734: A lounge-like workspace for two to six people; suitable for short-term activities that demand collaboration and/or allow impromptu interaction. Touch down : an open workspace for one person; suitable for short-term activities that require little concentration and low interaction. Meeting spaces in an office typically use interactive processes, be they quick conversations or intensive brainstorming. There are six generic types of meeting spaces, each supporting different activities. Small meeting room : an enclosed meeting space for two to four people; suitable for both formal and informal interaction. Medium meeting room : an enclosed meeting space for four to ten people; suitable for both formal and informal interaction. Large meeting room : an enclosed meeting space for ten or more people; suitable for formal interaction. Small meeting space : an open or semi-open meeting space for two to four persons; suitable for short, informal interaction. Medium meeting space : an open or semi-open meeting space for four to ten persons; suitable for short, informal interaction. Large meeting space : an open or semi-open meeting space for ten or more people people; suitable for short, informal interaction. Brainstorm room : an enclosed meeting space for five to twelve people; suitable for brainstorming sessions and workshops. Meeting point : an open meeting point for two to four people; suitable for ad hoc, informal meetings. Support spaces in an office are typically used for secondary activities such as filing documents or taking breaks. There are twelve generic types of support spaces, each supporting different activities. Filing space : an open or enclosed support space for
800-459: A mission on his new seigneury. The colonists left France in 1641 for Quebec and arrived on the island the following year. On May 17, 1642, Ville-Marie was founded on the southern shore of Montreal island, with Maisonneuve as its first governor. The settlement included a chapel and a hospital, under the command of Jeanne Mance . By 1643, Ville-Marie had come under Iroquois raids. In 1652, Maisonneuve returned to France to raise 100 volunteers to bolster
900-619: A new settlement at their former hunting grounds north of the Ottawa River. This became Kanesatake . In 1745, several Mohawk families moved upriver to create another settlement, known as Akwesasne . All three are now Mohawk reserves in Canada. The Canadian territory was ruled as a French colony until 1760, when Montreal fell to a British offensive during the Seven Years' War . The colony then surrendered to Great Britain. Ville-Marie
1000-666: A palace complex or a large temple. In the High Middle Ages (1000–1300), the medieval chancery acted as a sort of office, serving as the space where records and laws were stored and copied. With the growth of large, complex organizations in the 18th century, the first purpose-built office spaces were constructed. As the Industrial Revolution intensified in the 18th and 19th centuries, the industries of banking , rail , insurance , retail , petroleum , and telegraphy grew dramatically, requiring many clerks. As
1100-400: A result of the country's unique business culture. Japanese offices tend to follow open plan layouts in an 'island-style' arrangement, which promotes teamwork and top-down management. They also use uchi-awase (informal meetings) and ringi-sho (consensus systems) to encourage input on policies from as many groups throughout the office as possible. The main purpose of an office environment
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#17327727217911200-433: A result, more office space was assigned to house their activities. The time-and-motion study , pioneered in manufacturing by F. W. Taylor (1856–1915), led to the "Modern Efficiency Desk" of 1915. Its flat top, with drawers below, was designed to allow managers an easy view of their workers. By the middle of the 20th century, it became apparent that an efficient office required additional control over privacy , and gradually
1300-618: A semi-enclosed workspace for two to eight people; suitable for teamwork which demands frequent internal communication and a medium level of concentration. Cubicle : a semi-enclosed workspace for one person; suitable for activities that demand medium concentration and medium interaction. Office Pod : ideal for fostering privacy in today's bustling open-plan offices. It provides a cost-effective and efficient way to ensure privacy and continuity during conversations, calls, and video conferences. Private office : an enclosed workspace for one person; suitable for activities that are confidential, demand
1400-625: A semi-open or enclosed support space where employees can take a break from their work. Locker area : an open or semi-open support space where employees can store their personal belongings. Smoking room : an enclosed support space where employees can smoke a cigarette. Library : a semi-open or enclosed support space for reading books, journals and magazines. Games room : an enclosed support space where employees can play games, such as pool or darts. Waiting area : an open or semi-open support space where visitors can be received and wait for their appointment. Circulation space : support space which
1500-474: A simple solution and provide all of the former types of space. Workspaces in an office are typically used for conventional office activities such as reading, writing, and computer work. There are nine generic types of workspaces, each supporting different activities. Open office : an open workspace for more than ten people; suitable for activities that demand frequent communication or routine activities that need relatively little concentration. Team space :
1600-439: Is also an architectural and design phenomenon, including small offices, such as a bench in the corner of a small business or a room in someone's home (see small office/home office ), entire floors of buildings, and massive buildings dedicated entirely to one company. In modern terms, an office is usually the location where white-collar workers carry out their functions. In classical antiquity , offices were often part of
1700-419: Is around 1,000 mm (39 in), including an average of about 210 cm (83 in) of snowfall, which occurs from November through March. Thunderstorms are common from late spring through summer to early fall; additionally, tropical storms or their remnants can cause heavy rains and gales. Montreal averages 2,050 hours of sunshine annually, with summer being the sunniest season, though slightly wetter than
1800-465: Is believed to be due to outmigration, epidemics of European diseases, or intertribal wars. In 1611, Champlain established a fur trading post on the Island of Montreal on a site initially named La Place Royale . At the confluence of Petite Riviere and St. Lawrence River , it is where present-day Pointe-à-Callière stands. On his 1616 map, Champlain named the island Lille de Villemenon in honour of
1900-519: Is bordered by the city of Laval to the north; Longueuil , Saint-Lambert , Brossard , and other municipalities to the south; Repentigny to the east and the West Island municipalities to the west. The anglophone enclaves of Westmount , Montreal West , Hampstead , Côte Saint-Luc , the Town of Mount Royal and the francophone enclave Montreal East are all surrounded by Montreal. Montreal
2000-498: Is classified as a warm-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification : Dfb). Summers are warm to hot and humid with a daily maximum average of 26 to 27 °C (79 to 81 °F) in July; temperatures in excess of 30 °C (86 °F) are common. Conversely, cold fronts can bring crisp, drier and windy weather in the early and later parts of summer. Winter brings cold, snowy, windy, and, at times, icy weather, with
2100-541: Is juxtaposed with a continuous interior "with episodes of civic gravity and monumentality". At the time of construction, the main tower was known as the tallest skyscraper in the Commonwealth , and was the third tallest skyscraper on earth outside the United States. The equivalent of three floors was added late in the project to ensure that this building would not be topped by the neighboring Tour CIBC which
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#17327727217912200-466: Is now named after Mount Royal , the triple-peaked mountain around which the early settlement was built. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal and a few, much smaller, peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard . The city is 196 km (122 mi) east of the national capital, Ottawa , and 258 km (160 mi) southwest of the provincial capital, Quebec City . As of 2021,
2300-582: Is required for circulation on office floors, linking all major functions. Lactation rooms are also support spaces that are legally mandatory for companies in the United States, as of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Montreal Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec , the second-largest in Canada , and the ninth-largest in North America . Founded in 1642 as Ville-Marie , or "City of Mary", it
2400-580: Is the location of the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization , and was named a UNESCO City of Design in 2006. In 2017, Montreal was ranked the 12th-most livable city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit in its annual Global Liveability Ranking , although its ranking slipped to 40th in the 2021 index, primarily due to stress on the healthcare system from
2500-691: Is the oldest complete building in the city, built between 1669 and 1671. In Point St. Charles , visitors can see the Maison Saint-Gabriel , which can trace its history back to 1698. There are many historic buildings in Old Montreal in their original form: Notre-Dame Basilica, Bonsecours Market , and the 19th‑century headquarters of all major Canadian banks on St. James Street (French: Rue Saint Jacques ). Montreal's earliest buildings are characterized by their uniquely French influence and grey stone construction. A few notable examples of
2600-513: Is to support its occupants in performing their jobs—preferably at minimum cost and with maximum satisfaction. Different people performing different tasks will require different office spaces, or spaces that can handle a variety of uses. To aid decision-making in workplace and office design, one can distinguish three different types of office spaces: workspaces, meeting spaces, and support spaces. For new or developing businesses, remote satellite offices and project rooms, or serviced offices , can provide
2700-640: The Allied forces , was furious over Houde's stand and held him in a prison camp until 1944. That year, the government decided to institute conscription to expand the armed forces and fight the Axis powers . (See Conscription Crisis of 1944 .) Montreal was the official residence of the Luxembourg royal family in exile during World War II. By 1951, Montreal's population had surpassed one million. However, Toronto's growth had begun challenging Montreal's status as
2800-643: The COVID-19 pandemic . It is regularly ranked as one of the ten best cities in the world to be a university student in the QS World University Rankings . In 2018, Montreal was ranked as a global city . Montreal has hosted numerous important international events, including the 1967 International and Universal Exposition , and is the only Canadian city to have hosted the Summer Olympics, having done so in 1976 . The city hosts
2900-767: The Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One ; the Montreal International Jazz Festival , the largest jazz festival in the world; the Just for Laughs festival, the largest comedy festival in the world; and Les Francos de Montréal , the largest French-language music festival in the world. In sports , it is home to multiple professional teams, most notably the Canadiens of the National Hockey League , who have won
3000-731: The Great Lakes to the Atlantic. Montreal is defined by its location between the Saint Lawrence river to its south and the Rivière des Prairies to its north. The city is named after the most prominent geographical feature on the island, a three-head mountain called Mount Royal, topped at 232 m (761 ft) above sea level . Montreal is at the centre of the Montreal Metropolitan Community , and
3100-587: The Iroquois nations of the Haudenosaunee (then based in present-day New York), established the village of Hochelaga at the foot of Mount Royal two centuries before the French arrived. Archeologists have found evidence of their habitation there and at other locations in the valley since at least the 14th century. The French explorer Jacques Cartier visited Hochelaga on October 2, 1535, and estimated
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3200-536: The Montreal Biosphere , and Moshe Safdie 's striking Habitat 67 apartment complex. The Montreal Metro has public artwork by some of the biggest names in Quebec culture . In 2006, Montreal was named a UNESCO City of Design , one of only three design capitals in the world (the others being Berlin and Buenos Aires ). This distinguished title recognizes Montreal's design community. Since 2005,
3300-610: The Ottawa River in pursuit of Forster, Forster's cannons repelled Arnold's forces. Forster negotiated a prisoner exchange with Henry Sherburne and Isaac Butterfield, resulting in a May 27 boating of their deputy Lieutenant Park being returned to the Americans. Arnold and Forster negotiated further and more American prisoners were returned to Arnold at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec , ("Fort Anne") on May 30 (delayed two days by wind). Arnold eventually withdrew his forces back to
3400-468: The Plains of Abraham , Montreal fell to American forces led by Richard Montgomery on November 13, 1775, after it was abandoned by Guy Carleton . After Arnold withdrew from Quebec City to Pointe-aux-Trembles on November 19, Montgomery's forces left Montreal on December 1 and arrived there on December 3 to plot to attack Quebec City , with Montgomery leaving David Wooster in charge of the city. Montgomery
3500-557: The Shaughnessy Village / Concordia U area home to thousands of students at Concordia University . The borough also comprises most of Mount Royal Park , Saint Helen's Island , and Notre-Dame Island . The Plateau Mount Royal borough was a working class francophone area. The largest neighbourhood is the Plateau (not to be confused with the whole borough), which was undergoing considerable gentrification as of 2009, and
3600-672: The Stanley Cup a record 24 times. In the Ojibwe language , the land is called Mooniyaang or Moon’yaang which was "the first stopping place" in the Ojibwe migration story as related in the seven fires prophecy . In the Mohawk language , the land is called Tiohtià:ke . This is an abbreviation of Teionihtiohtiá:kon , which loosely translates as "where the group divided/parted ways." French settlers from La Flèche in
3700-502: The cubicle system evolved. The word "office" stems from the Latin " officium " and its equivalents in various Romance languages . An officium was not necessarily a place, but often referred instead to human staff members of an organization, or even the abstract notion of a formal position like a magistrate. The elaborate Roman bureaucracy would not be equaled for centuries in the West after
3800-589: The prohibition movement in the United States led to Montreal becoming a destination for Americans looking for alcohol . Unemployment remained high in the city and was exacerbated by the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression . During World War II , Mayor Camillien Houde protested against conscription and urged Montrealers to disobey the federal government's registry of all men and women. The federal government, part of
3900-738: The wind chill often makes the temperature feel this low to exposed skin. Spring and fall are pleasantly mild but prone to drastic temperature changes; spring even more so than fall. Late season heat waves as well as " Indian summers " are possible. Early and late season snow storms can occur in November and March, and more rarely in April. Montreal is generally snow free from late April to late October. However, snow can fall in early to mid-October as well as early to mid-May on rare occasions. The lowest temperature in Environment Canada's books
4000-741: The 18th century to suit the needs of large and growing organizations such as the Royal Navy and the East India Company . The Old Admiralty ( Ripley Building ) was built in 1726 and was the first purpose-built office building in Great Britain. As well as offices, the building housed a board room and apartments for the Lords of the Admiralty. In the 1770s, many scattered offices for the Royal Navy were gathered into Somerset House ,
4100-410: The 1980s and early 1990s, Montreal experienced a slower rate of economic growth than many other major Canadian cities. Montreal was the site of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre , one of Canada's worst mass shootings , where 25-year-old Marc Lépine shot and killed 14 people, all of them women, and wounded 14 other people before shooting himself at École Polytechnique . Montreal was merged with
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4200-494: The 27 surrounding municipalities on the Island of Montreal on January 1, 2002, creating a unified city encompassing the entire island. There was substantial resistance from the suburbs to the merger, with the perception being that it was forced on the mostly English suburbs by the Parti Québécois. As expected, this move proved unpopular and several mergers were later rescinded. Several former municipalities, totalling 13% of
4300-702: The English-allied Iroquois attacked Lachine on the Island of Montreal, committing the worst massacre in the history of New France. By the early 18th century, the Sulpician Order was established there. To encourage French settlement, it wanted the Mohawk to move away from the fur trading post at Ville-Marie. It had a mission village, known as Kahnewake , south of the St Lawrence River. The fathers persuaded some Mohawk to make
4400-574: The Loire valley first named their new town, founded in 1642, Ville Marie ("City of Mary"), named for the Virgin Mary . The current form of the name, Montréal , is generally thought to be derived from Mount Royal ( Mont Royal in French), the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. There are multiple explanations for how Mont Royal became Montréal . In 16th century French,
4500-540: The New York fort of Ticonderoga by the summer. On June 15, Arnold's messenger approaching Sorel spotted Carleton returning with a fleet of ships and notified him. Arnold's forces abandoned Montreal (attempting to burn it down in the process) prior to the June 17 arrival of Carleton's fleet. The Americans did not return British prisoners in exchange, as previously agreed, due to accusations of abuse, with Congress repudiating
4600-525: The agreement at the protest of George Washington. Arnold blamed Colonel Timothy Bedel for the defeat, removing him and Lieutenant Butterfield from command and sending them to Sorel for court-martial. The retreat of the American army delayed their court martial until August 1, 1776, when they were convicted and cashiered at Ticonderoga. Bedel was given a new commission by Congress in October 1777 after Arnold
4700-542: The bet concerned is unknown. In 1975 Air Canada 's headquarters were at 1 Place Ville Marie. Mayor Jean Drapeau chose the name himself. Ville-Marie was the name of the Catholic colony founded at what is now Montreal in 1642. On 12 March 1976 Canada Post issued 'Place Ville Marie and Notre-Dame Church' designed by Jean Mercier & Pierre Mercieron. The $ 1 stamps are perforated 13.5 × 13 and were printed by British American Bank Note Company. The penthouse
4800-661: The border between French and English Canada, Ottawa was seen as a compromise between Montreal, Toronto, Kingston and Quebec City, which were all vying to become the young nation's official capital. Ottawa retained the status as capital of Canada when the Province of Canada joined with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to form the Dominion of Canada in 1867. An internment camp was set up at Immigration Hall in Montreal from August 1914 to November 1918. After World War I ,
4900-423: The borough, its name being derived from the fact that it is home to thousands of McGill University students and faculty members. The Southwest borough was home to much of the city's industry during the late 19th and early-to-mid 20th century. The borough included Goose Village and was historically home to the traditionally working-class Irish neighbourhoods of Griffintown and Point Saint Charles as well as
5000-439: The building. The central plaza became an important new public space in downtown Montreal, hosting an historic election rally for Pierre Elliott Trudeau during the 1968 federal election . Developer William Zeckendorf founded Trizec Properties in order to build Place Ville Marie. He lost a bet to then Royal Bank President Earle McLaughlin , making payment in full (US$ 0.10) in an elaborate dime encased in acrylic. Exactly what
5100-606: The business arena. The October Crisis and the 1976 election of the Parti Québécois , which supported sovereign status for Quebec, resulted in the departure of many businesses and people from the city. In 1976, Montreal hosted the Summer Olympics . While the event brought the city international prestige and attention, the Olympic Stadium built for the event resulted in massive debt for the city. During
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#17327727217915200-428: The central office each day. As the Industrial Revolution intensified in the 18th and 19th centuries, the industries of banking , rail , insurance , retail , petroleum , and telegraphy dramatically grew in size and complexity. Increasingly large number of clerks were needed to handle order processing, accounting, and document filing, and these clerks needed to be housed in increasingly specialized spaces. Most of
5300-478: The city had a population of 1,762,949, and a metropolitan population of 4,291,732, making it the second-largest metropolitan area in Canada. French is the city's official language. In 2021, 85.7% of the population of the city of Montreal considered themselves fluent in French while 90.2% could speak it in the metropolitan area. Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with 58.5% of
5400-631: The city has been home to the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda) and the International Design Alliance (IDA). The Underground City (officially RÉSO), an important tourist attraction, is an underground network connecting shopping centres, pedestrian thoroughfares, universities, hotels, restaurants, bistros, subway stations and more, in and around downtown with 32 km (20 mi) of tunnels over 12 km (4.6 sq mi) in
5500-582: The city's 20th-century architecture include Saint Joseph's Oratory , completed in 1967, Ernest Cormier 's Art Deco Université de Montréal main building, the landmark Place Ville Marie office tower, and the controversial Olympic Stadium and surrounding structures. Pavilions designed for the 1967 International and Universal Exposition, popularly known as Expo 67 , featured a wide range of architectural designs. Though most pavilions were temporary structures, several have become landmarks, including Buckminster Fuller 's geodesic dome U.S. Pavilion, now
5600-672: The city's earliest still-standing buildings date back to the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Although most are clustered around the Old Montreal area, such as the Sulpician Seminary adjacent to Notre-Dame Basilica that dates back to 1687, and Château Ramezay , which was built in 1705, examples of early colonial architecture are dotted throughout the city. Situated in Lachine, the Le Ber-Le Moyne House
5700-489: The city's history. Montreal annexed 27 other cities, towns and villages beginning with Hochelaga in 1883, with the last prior to 2002 being Pointe-aux-Trembles in 1982. The 21st century has brought with it a revival of the city's economic and cultural landscape. The construction of new residential skyscrapers, two super-hospitals (the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal and McGill University Health Centre ),
5800-518: The city. As they lacked modern plumbing systems it was impossible to connect all buildings at once and it also acted as a conservation method. However, the population was not finished rising — it rose from 58,000 in 1852 to 267,000 by 1901. Montreal was the capital of the Province of Canada from 1844 to 1849, but lost its status when a Tory mob burnt down the Parliament building to protest
5900-427: The colonial population. If the effort had failed, Montreal was to be abandoned and the survivors re-located downriver to Quebec City . Before these 100 arrived in the fall of 1653, the population of Montreal was barely 50 people. By 1685, Ville-Marie was home to some 600 colonists, most of them living in modest wooden houses. Ville-Marie became a centre for the fur trade and a base for further exploration . In 1689,
6000-592: The creation of the Quartier des Spectacles , reconstruction of the Turcot Interchange , reconfiguration of the Decarie and Dorval interchanges, construction of the new Réseau express métropolitain , gentrification of Griffintown , subway line extensions and the purchase of new subway cars, the complete revitalization and expansion of Trudeau International Airport , the completion of Quebec Autoroute 30 ,
6100-418: The desks of the era were top-heavy and had a cubicle-like appearance, with paper storage bins extending above the desk-work area, offering workers some degree of privacy. The relatively high price of land in the central core of cities led to the first multi-story buildings, which were limited to about 10 stories until the use of iron and steel allowed for higher structures. The first purpose-built office block
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#17327727217916200-620: The economic capital of Canada. Indeed, the volume of stocks traded at the Toronto Stock Exchange had already surpassed that traded at the Montreal Stock Exchange in the 1940s. The Saint Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, allowing vessels to bypass Montreal. In time, this development led to the end of the city's economic dominance as businesses moved to other areas. During the 1960s, there was continued growth as Canada's tallest skyscrapers, new expressways and
6300-401: The existence of such "offices". These rooms are sometimes called "libraries" by some archaeologists because of scrolls' association with literature. They were, however, closer to modern offices because the scrolls were meant for record-keeping and other management functions, not for poetry or works of fiction. The High Middle Ages (1000–1300) saw the rise of the medieval chancery , which was
6400-412: The fall of Rome , with areas partially reverting to illiteracy. Further east, the Byzantine Empire and varying Islamic caliphates preserved a more sophisticated administrative culture. Offices in classical antiquity were often part of a palace complex or a large temple. There was often a room where scrolls were kept and scribes did their work. Ancient texts mentioning the work of scribes allude to
6500-416: The film Scanners II: The New Order in a few scenes. Sekure Merchant Solutions Office building An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it (see officer or official );
6600-473: The first block purpose-built for office work. The East India House was built in 1729 on Leadenhall Street as the headquarters from which the East India Company administered its Indian colonial possessions . The Company developed a very complex bureaucracy for the task, necessitating thousands of office employees to process the required paperwork. The Company recognized the benefits of centralized administration and required that all workers sign in and out at
6700-451: The forms réal and royal were used interchangeably, so Montréal could simply be a variant of Mont Royal . In the second explanation, the name came from an Italian translation. Venetian geographer Giovanni Battista Ramusio used the name Monte Real to designate Mount Royal in his 1556 map of the region. However, the Commission de toponymie du Québec disputes this explanation. Historiographer François de Belleforest
6800-455: The holiday season, a large artificial Christmas tree is installed in the central court. The plaza has a large fountain with programmed water jets and a large abstract sculpture at its centre: "Feminine Landscape" by Gerald Gladstone . The complex is currently owned by Ivanhoé Cambridge , a division of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDP Capital), who bought the building in March 2000 for CA$ 450 million. The building can be seen in
6900-509: The invention of the printing press and its wider distribution, there was often no clear cultural distinction between a private office and a private library ; books were both read and written at the same desk or table , as were personal and professional accounts and letters. During the 13th century, the English word "office" first began to appear when referring to a position involving specific professional duties (for example, "the office of the....") Geoffrey Chaucer appears to have first used
7000-420: The latter is an earlier usage, as "office" originally referred to the location of one's duty. In its adjective form, the term "office" may refer to business -related tasks. In law , a company or organization has offices in any place where it has an official presence, even if that presence consists of a storage silo , for example, instead of a more traditional establishment with a desk and chair . An office
7100-494: The mid-1840s, the City of Montreal installed a water system that would pump water from the St. Lawrence and into cisterns . The cisterns would then be transported to the desired location. This was not the first water system of its type in Montreal, as there had been one in private ownership since 1801. In the middle of the 19th century, water distribution was carried out by "fontainiers". The fountainiers would open and close water valves outside of buildings, as directed, all over
7200-655: The midpoint of the 20th century, it became apparent that an efficient office required more privacy in order to combat tedium, increase productivity, and encourage creativity. In 1964, the Herman Miller (office equipment) company contracted Robert Propst , a prolific industrial designer. Propst came up with the concept of the Action Office , which later evolved into the cubicle office furniture system. Offices in Japan have developed unique characteristics partly as
7300-493: The most densely populated part of Montreal. The city is composed of 19 large boroughs , subdivided into neighbourhoods. The boroughs are: Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce , Le Plateau-Mont-Royal ( The Plateau Mount Royal ) , Outremont and Ville-Marie in the centre; Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve , Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie and Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension in the east; Anjou , Montréal-Nord , Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles and Saint-Léonard in
7400-544: The most neighbourhoods is Ville-Marie, which includes downtown, the historic district of Old Montreal, Chinatown , the Gay Village , the Latin Quarter , the gentrified Quartier international and Cité Multimédia as well as the Quartier des spectacles which is under development. Other neighbourhoods of interest in the borough include the affluent Golden Square Mile neighbourhood at the foot of Mount Royal and
7500-406: The northeast; Ahuntsic-Cartierville , L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève , Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Saint-Laurent in the northwest; and Lachine , LaSalle , Le Sud-Ouest ( The Southwest ) and Verdun in the south. Many of these boroughs were independent cities that were forced to merge with Montreal in January 2002 following the 2002 municipal reorganization of Montreal . The borough with
7600-546: The others in terms of total precipitation—mostly from thunderstorms. For over a century and a half, Montreal was the industrial and financial centre of Canada. This legacy has left a variety of buildings including factories, elevators , warehouses , mills, and refineries , that today provide an invaluable insight into the city's history, especially in the downtown area and the Old Port area. There are 50 National Historic Sites of Canada , more than any other city. Some of
7700-502: The passage of the Rebellion Losses Bill . Thereafter, the capital rotated between Quebec City and Toronto until in 1857, Queen Victoria herself established Ottawa as the capital due to strategic reasons. The reasons were twofold. First, because it was located more in the interior of the Province of Canada, it was less susceptible to attack from the United States. Second, and perhaps more importantly, because it lay on
7800-665: The place where most government letters were written and laws were copied within a kingdom. The rooms of the chancery often had walls full of pigeonholes, constructed to hold rolled-up pieces of parchment for safekeeping or ready reference. This kind of structure was a precursor to the modern bookshelf. The introduction of the printing press during the Renaissance did not impact the setup and function of these government offices significantly. Medieval paintings and tapestries often show people in their private offices handling record-keeping books or writing on scrolls of parchment . Before
7900-428: The plaza have been given many facelifts over the years. In the latest facelift, much of the grey concrete and terrazzo of the plaza was covered with grass, flowers and shrubs. The complex has 3,384,000 sq ft (314,384 m) of space and parking for about 900 vehicles. There are about 70 tenants with 3,000 employees. Via Rail has its headquarters in "3, Place Ville Marie". The location of Place Ville Marie
8000-453: The population able to speak both French and English. Historically the commercial capital of Canada, Montreal was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of art, culture , literature, film and television, music, commerce, aerospace, transport , finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education , tourism , food, fashion, video game development, and world affairs. Montreal
8100-402: The population of the island, voted to leave the unified city in separate referendums in June 2004. The demerger took place on January 1, 2006, leaving 15 municipalities on the island, including Montreal. Demerged municipalities remain affiliated with the city through an agglomeration council that collects taxes from them to pay for numerous shared services. The 2002 mergers were not the first in
8200-473: The population of the native people at Hochelaga to be "over a thousand people". Evidence of earlier occupation of the island, such as those uncovered in 1642 during the construction of Fort Ville-Marie, have effectively been removed. In 1603, French explorer Samuel de Champlain reported that the St ;Lawrence Iroquoians and their settlements had disappeared altogether from the St Lawrence valley. This
8300-543: The reconstruction of the Champlain Bridge and the construction of a new toll bridge to Laval are helping Montreal continue to grow. Montreal is in the southwest of the province of Quebec. The city covers most of the Island of Montreal at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. The port of Montreal lies at one end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the river gateway that stretches from
8400-544: The sieur de Villemenon, a French dignitary who was seeking the viceroyship of New France. In 1639, Jérôme Le Royer de La Dauversière obtained the Seigneurial title to the Island of Montreal in the name of the Notre Dame Society of Montreal to establish a Roman Catholic mission to evangelize natives. Dauversière hired Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve , then age 30, to lead a group of colonists to build
8500-523: The storage of frequently used files and documents. Storage space : an open or enclosed support space for the storage of commonly used office supplies. Print and copy area : an open or enclosed support space with facilities for printing, scanning and copying. Mail area : an open or semi-open support space where employees can pick up or deliver their mail. Pantry area : an open or enclosed support space where employees can get refreshments and where supplies for visitor hospitality are kept. Break area :
8600-669: The subway system known as the Montreal Metro were finished during this time. Montreal also held the World's Fair of 1967, better known as Expo67 . The 1970s ushered in a period of wide-ranging social and political changes, stemming largely from the concerns of the French-speaking majority about the conservation of their culture and language, given the traditional predominance of the English Canadian minority in
8700-600: The use of large, open floor plans and desks that faced supervisors. As a result, in 1915, the Equitable Life Insurance Company in New York City introduced the "Modern Efficiency Desk" with a flat top and drawers below, designed to allow managers an easy view of the workers. This led to a demand for large square footage per floor in buildings, and a return to the open spaces that were seen in pre–industrial revolution buildings. However, by
8800-709: The word in 1395 to mean a place where business is transacted in The Canterbury Tales . As mercantilism became the dominant economic theory of the Renaissance , merchants tended to conduct their business in buildings that also sometimes housed people doing retail sales, warehousing, and clerical work. During the 15th century, the population density in many cities reached a point where merchants began to use stand-alone buildings to conduct their business. A distinction began to develop between religious, administrative/military, and commercial uses for buildings. The first purpose-built office spaces were constructed in
8900-666: Was assigned to defend Rhode Island in July 1777 . Montreal was incorporated as a city in 1832. The opening of the Lachine Canal permitted ships to bypass the unnavigable Lachine Rapids , while the construction of the Victoria Bridge established Montreal as a major railway hub. The leaders of Montreal's business community had started to build their homes in the Golden Square Mile from about 1850. By 1860, it
9000-579: Was built at the same time. Conceived and built at a time when Montreal was the metropolis of Canada, the structure's largest occupant and anchor tenant was the head office of the Royal Bank of Canada , the country's largest bank, which moved from its previous head office at 360 St Jacques in Old Montreal . The second new large corporate tenant was the Aluminum Company of Canada ( Alcan ) who established in November 1962 occupying 6 floors of
9100-541: Was controversial from the start, given its proximity to many Montreal landmarks and the vast changes it would bring to the downtown core. According to design historian Mark Pimlott, "The most radical aspect of the Place Ville Marie project was that nearly one-half of its 280,000-square-metre area was beneath street level [...] deriving the obvious benefit of being protected from Montréal’s extreme winter and summer climate." Its vast network and multi-purpose
9200-569: Was home to the Restaurant Club Lounge Altitude 737 restaurant and nightclub , that opened onto a rooftop terrace. The club, which was named for its elevation in feet from sea level, was one of the most famous in the city, and featured one of the most unusual dance floors, which twisted and turned around, and spanned two floors. It later became home to the 360 Observatory, which suspended its operations on 13 March 2020 and announced permanent closure on 3 May 2020. During
9300-414: Was killed in the failed attack and Arnold, who had taken command, sent Brigadier General Moses Hazen to inform Wooster of the defeat. Wooster left Hazen in command on March 20, 1776, as he left to replace Arnold in leading further attacks on Quebec City. On April 19, Arnold arrived in Montreal to take over command from Hazen, who remained as his second-in-command. Hazen sent Colonel Timothy Bedel to form
9400-560: Was originally a vast railway trench gouged in the flank of Mount Royal between the southern portal of Canadian National Railway 's Mount Royal Tunnel and Central Station . Most of the building was thus built over the tracks, requiring the structure to be more resistant to vibrations than normally required. As a result, it is the most earthquake-resistant office tower in Montreal. All of the land bounded by Cathcart Street, Dorchester Boulevard (now René Lévesque Boulevard ), University Street (now Robert-Bourrassa Street) and Mansfield Street
9500-465: Was owned by the CNR, Railways, with the exception of the venerable St. James Club at the corner of Dorchester and University. Developer William Zeckendorf offered the club the top floor of the Place Ville Marie tower in exchange for their property, but was turned down. Place Ville Marie was one of the first built projects of Henry N. Cobb , a founding partner of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners . His design
9600-539: Was the Brunswick Building, built in Liverpool in 1841. The invention of the safety elevator in 1852 by Elisha Otis enabled the rapid upward escalation of buildings. By the end of the 19th century, larger office buildings frequently contained large glass atriums to allow light into the complex and improve air circulation. By 1906, Sears , Roebuck, and Co. had opened their headquarters operation in
9700-446: Was the first to use the form Montréal with reference to the entire region in 1575. Archaeological evidence in the region indicates that First Nations native people occupied the island of Montreal as early as 4,000 years ago. By the year AD 1000, they had started to cultivate maize . Within a few hundred years, they had built fortified villages. The Saint Lawrence Iroquoians , an ethnically and culturally distinct group from
9800-490: Was the largest municipality in British North America and the undisputed economic and cultural centre of Canada. In the 19th century, maintaining Montreal's drinking water became increasingly difficult with the rapid increase in population. A majority of the drinking water was still coming from the city's harbour, which was busy and heavily trafficked, leading to the deterioration of the water within. In
9900-636: Was the name for the settlement that appeared in all official documents until 1705, when Montreal appeared for the first time, although people referred to the "Island of Montreal" long before then. As part of the American Revolution , the invasion of Quebec resulted after Benedict Arnold captured Fort Ticonderoga in present-day upstate New York in May 1775 as a launching point to Arnold's invasion of Quebec in September . While Arnold approached
10000-414: Was −37.8 °C (−36 °F) on January 15, 1957, and the highest temperature was 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) on August 1, 1975, both at Dorval International Airport . Before modern weather record keeping (which dates back to 1871 for McGill), a minimum temperature almost 5 degrees lower was recorded at 7 a.m. on January 10, 1859, where it registered at −42 °C (−44 °F). Annual precipitation
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