Architects’ Building
A 17-story Art Deco office tower designed by Ross and Macdonald, Montreal’s premier architectural firm of the interwar period. The building housed its designers’ own offices and became the corporate headquarters of Canadian Industries Limited.
At a glance
Built between 1930 and 1931, the Architects’ Building stood 69.82 metres tall on the southeast corner of Dorchester Boulevard (now René Lévesque Boulevard) in Downtown Montreal. Its sleek geometric forms and vertical emphasis exemplified Art Deco design principles then reshaping North American cities.
History
Ross and Macdonald completed the building shortly after their celebrated Édifice Price in Quebec City, establishing themselves as leaders in modernist commercial architecture. The firm retained offices on the 13th floor from 1931 until about 1934.
Canadian Industries Limited (CIL)—jointly owned by British Imperial Chemical Industries and American DuPont—leased space in 1934 and became the principal tenant. Around 1936, the building was renamed CIL House. A U.S. antitrust ruling in 1954 dissolved the partnership between ICI and DuPont, splitting CIL. The ICI-owned portion relocated, while DuPont Canada remained in the building (thereafter called the DuPont Building) until 1967.
The building was demolished in 1968.
What you see
The Architects’ Building displayed the hallmarks of 1930s Art Deco: vertical striping, setbacks, and geometric ornamentation. Its design echoed the formal vocabulary of Ross and Macdonald’s contemporaneous work in Quebec City, though scaled to Montreal’s downtown streetwall.
Cultural significance
The building represented a transitional moment in Canadian modernism, bridging the decorative richness of Art Deco with the functional clarity that would dominate postwar office design. Its occupation by two of North America’s largest chemical corporations reflected Montreal’s role as a major centre of industrial commerce.
Key facts
- Country: Canada
- City: Montreal
- Address: 1135 Beaver Hall Hill (southeast corner of Dorchester Boulevard/René Lévesque Boulevard)
- Completed: 1931
- Height: 69.82 metres (17 stories)
- Architectural style: Art Deco
- Architects: Ross and Macdonald
- Demolished: 1968
- Coordinates: 45.5031, -73.566
Practical information & getting there
The Architects’ Building no longer stands; it was demolished in 1968. The site is located in downtown Montreal at the intersection of Beaver Hall Hill and René Lévesque Boulevard (formerly Dorchester Boulevard). For those studying Montreal’s architectural history, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Canadian Centre for Architecture hold materials related to Ross and Macdonald’s work.
Sources & resources
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