1000 de La Gauchetière

1000 de La Gauchetière is a 51-storey skyscraper in downtown Montreal, Canada, finished in 1992. It is 205 meters (673 feet) tall, and by the height rule the city uses, which does not count spires, it is the tallest building in Montreal.

You can spot it by its steep, triangular roof of green copper and the four copper-capped round entrances at the corners of its base. Inside is an unusual surprise: a big atrium with a real ice skating rink. Lemay & Associates and Dimakopoulos & Associates designed it, and Pomerleau, Quebec's largest construction company, built it.

How tall is it, really?

Montreal limits how high buildings may rise so that nothing towers above Mount Royal, the hill in the middle of the city. This tower reaches the highest level the city allows, 232.5 meters above sea level, even though the tower itself is 205 meters from ground to roof.

If spires are counted, as many skyscraper lists do, it ranks second, because 1250 René-Lévesque has a taller spire. It also looks a little shorter from some angles because it sits on lower ground.

Design and the skating rink

The Montreal firms Lemay & Associates and Dimakopoulos & Associates designed it as a postmodern tower. The round copper-topped entrances copy the dome of the nearby Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, a habit of Montreal skyscrapers that borrow looks from their neighbours.

The concrete core and steel floors are served by 22 elevators, and the recessed corners give many offices a corner view. Visitors can skate in the atrium in winter.

On the globe

The model shows the tower with its steep green copper roof and the four copper-capped rotundas at the base corners.