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Place Ville Marie – 1 PVM (main tower)

Montréal, Québec

2014 Certification Leed Silver (Existing building)

Photo credits : Vincent Brière

Client

Actual Ivanhoé Cambridge / First William Zeckendorf

Type of use

Office building and commercial spaces

Number of floors

47

Year of construction

1958-1962

Work type

New building

Area

28 000 m²

A 28,000 m² building complex built over the tracks leading to the Central Train Station, its cross-shaped main tower was not only an innovative architectural design at the time, but also a structural necessity to ensure the tower’s stability and wind resistance.

It took approximately 49,000 tonnes of steel and one million bolts to build the 188-metre-high tower, which became the tallest tower in the Commonwealth in 1962. Each floor has a rental surface of 3,350m², for which vertical circulation is provided by 32 elevators (8 in each building wing). Finally, 1 PVM is the centrepiece of a complex of nearly 280,000 m² of floor space, which is now considered as the epicentre of the Montreal business district. The tower was built above the trains, without interrupting rail traffic or moving the tracks.

This project, carried out in collaboration with the architect I.M.Pei in the 1960s, was undoubtedly the achievement that projected the NCK firm onto the national and international real estate market.

For more than 35 years, at a rate of approximately 15 mandates per year, NCK has acted as structural engineers for the redevelopment, renovation and upgrading of the complex. NCK has been entrusted with more than 300 different mandates by successive owners / managers.