The tallest building in the British Empire for three decades – a banking cathedral whose carved giant heads gaze over Toronto from the 32nd floor.
At a glance
- Type
- Bank headquarters tower
- Period
- 1929-1931
- Style
- Art Deco / Romanesque Revival
- Location
- King and Bay streets, Toronto, Canada
- Coordinates
- 43.6481, -79.3798
- Architects
- York and Sawyer with Darling and Pearson
Overview
The Canadian Bank of Commerce tower at 25 King Street West rose to 145 metres in 1931, claiming the title of tallest building in the British Empire and holding it until 1962. New York’s great bank architects York and Sawyer wrapped a steel frame in limestone Romanesque-Deco, crowned by four colossal carved heads – 7.5 metres tall – representing courage, observation, foresight, and enterprise, watching the four horizons.
History
The tower announced Toronto’s challenge to Montreal as Canada’s financial capital; its observation gallery between the heads drew crowds until mid-century. Incorporated into the Commerce Court complex with Pei’s 1972 steel tower, the North building was meticulously restored – banking hall, gilded ceiling, and heads – as the heritage jewel of CIBC’s campus at the country’s premier corner, King and Bay.
Architecture and Design
The banking hall is among North America’s grandest rooms: a barrel-vaulted nave 20 metres high, coffered in blue and gold, lit by arched clerestories above marble counters. The exterior’s carved friezes of bees, squirrels, and industry preach thrift; the crowning heads by Bobcaygeon sculptors after designs of the architects give Toronto its most haunting skyline detail.
Cultural significance
Commerce Court North is the monument of Canadian interwar ambition and the finest Deco-era interior in the country; its empire-topping height made it the CN Tower of its generation, and its preservation set the standard for Toronto’s heritage-in-towers approach.
Visiting today
The banking hall is accessible during business hours; the heads are best seen from the surrounding towers or with binoculars from the street. The PATH underground city connects directly.
Getting there
King subway station exits at the door; Union Station and the financial district’s PATH network link all transit.
Sources and resources
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