National Bank’s New Montreal Headquarters Marks Return to Former Financial District

Bright yellow hardhats, cement trucks and construction cranes have departed and the massive National Bank tower, one of Montreal's biggest office projects in decades, is getting prepped to open to thousands of workers following more than four years of construction.

The tower, built at a cost of 500 million Canadian dollars and with 1.1 million square feet of office space, is designed to be a local landmark with its distinctive sloping, curved facade and its location make the office tower stand out to passing tourists from across Canada and other countries, which typically are mostly visitors from the United States. The building is located beneath the downtown core at the foot of hilly Robert Bourassa Boulevard, a spot that straddles the border of the newly built condos in Griffintown to the west and Old Montreal to the east.

The office tower is connected to a third, less-visible neighbourhood, as the tower links to Montreal’s 32-kilometre underground pedestrian tunnel system, which allows people to wander for hours and access the metro system, stores and buildings without setting foot above ground.

The National Bank tower reaches so high to the clouds that it comes near to claiming second place as Montreal's tallest building, as its 656-foot height is similar to 700 De La Gauchetière and its newly built neighbour at 788 St. Jacques St., all three trailing the city's tallest office tower at 1250 René Lévesque Blvd.

The National Bank’s move represents a significant reversal of a longtime local trend, as Saint Jacques Street — then known as Saint James — long housed Montreal's financial district from its earliest years until the mid-1960s, when the Royal Bank moved its headquarters to Place Ville Marie and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce followed suit, moving nearby to 1155 Rene Levesque Blvd. W. Those relocations prompted most other banking-related businesses to depart Old Montreal.

The Old Montreal area — often now called the Old Port by some — has since carried on as a magnet for tourists, office workers and nightclubbing youth.

The National Bank hired architects Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux to create the structure and they, in turn, sounded out workers to learn what features they most desired. The result is a structure that includes a conference centre, a two-level cafeteria, daycare, a fitness centre, 400 bicycle parking spaces, 80 electric car docks and an outdoor garden on the 40th floor.

"We are honoured to be designing National Bank's new head office, a landmark and unique legacy for the City of Montreal," architects Anik Shooner and Jean-Pierre LeTourneux, wrote in a statement on their website.

The building will contain 7,000 workstations for 12,500 hybrid employees and all floors will be occupied by the National Bank when they move into the premises sometime in the second half of 2023, according to a National Bank representative.

The National Bank was previously headquartered at 600 De La Gauchetière, which sits a mere 300 metres uphill from the construction site, in fact the current tower and the former tower, would almost touch if laid down on their sides. The National Bank sold the 1983-built property for $187 million to Montreal-based Kevric Real Estate in 2019. Its largest tenant is now Hydro Quebec.

The new National Bank building has generated much organic online buzz, with one local architecture discussion forum receiving comments — mostly fawning — and photos filling 430 pages, many complimenting its presence on the local skyline and the striking shape of the building on the vista looking north.

The new tower was built by developer Broccolini to achieve LEED v4 Gold and WELL certification for energy conservation. The company wrote on its website that the National Bank headquarters was “built according to the strictest sustainable building conventions in the world.” It sits next to newly built Victoria sur le Parc at 788 Saint Jacques St., a residential and commercial building of a similar height, also built by Broccolini.

CoStar photographers capture images every day of distinctive buildings, each with its own story. Snapshots is an occasional feature showcasing one of them.