World Trade Centre Montreal
Coordinates: 45°30′7.50″N 73°33′38.20″W / 45.5020833°N 73.5606111°W
The World Trade Centre Montreal (in French, Centre de Commerce mondial de Montréal) is an office and hotel complex located in the Quartier international district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Completed in 1992 by Arcop, it is an example of a 'horizontal skyscraper' and a leading example of urban renewal, architectural preservation and rehabilitation. The complex united several smaller Victorian-era commercial buildings (including the city's historic Bank of Nova Scotia building and Canada Steamship Lines building) by encasing them in a larger form, in this case a massive glassed-in atrium running the length of what was once Fortification Lane, itself the site of the city's colonial defensive walls. In a kind of post-modern hommage, a remnant of the Berlin Wall, given to the city in 1992, is on public exhibit within the complex. The complex includes other historic elements, such as a fountain by French architect and sculptor Dieudonné-Barthélemy Guibal (1699–1757) also donated to the city in 1992. At the far end of the centre is the Montreal InterContinental Hotel.
From the exterior it appears as a quintessential late-19th century Montreal business block with a diverse collection of buildings in different styles. Once inside the rear sections of those buildings have been oriented on to a vast open space, replete with reflecting pool, cafés, boutiques and other diverse services. The interior is united in its impressive open volume and natural lighting, it reveals itself in layers - for the uninitiated the interior space is often thoroughly unexpected.
The Centre is connected to Montreal's underground city and to Square-Victoria-OACI metro station towards the West and Place d'Armes and Place Riopelle to the East.
