Architecture
The historic Bank of Nova Scotia head office building at 44 King Street West, which was designed by architects Mathers and Haldenby with Beck and Eadie, and built from 1946 to 1951. This 115 m (377 ft), 27-storey tower was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act by the City of Toronto in 1975. It was completely renovated with major, historically sensitive architectural design changes including a 14-storey glass atrium connecting the original building to the new, 68-storey structure.
The modern component, comprising a main building at 68 storeys above ground and 6 storeys below ground, with two smaller extensions at 104 Yonge Street and 11 Adelaide Street West. The excavation extended 33.5 m (110 ft) which is the deepest excavation for a building in Canada's history. Within the basement levels lies Canada's only bullion bank gold vault. The extensions incorporate the historic façades of the former Wood Gundy building on Adelaide Street and the Dunfield Building on Yonge Street. Designed by WZMH Architects, the modern structure was constructed between 1985 and 1988. Unlike most high office towers which use steel to bear structural loads and a glass curtain wall as their exterior facade, the 68 storey tower was constructed of high strength reinforced concrete. Napoleon Granite, quarried in Sweden, cut and polished in Italy, and then imported to Canada, was used for the exterior and some of the interior surfaces. The main tower at 275 m (902 ft) is Canada's third tallest building and the 22nd tallest building in North America.
The ground floor is characterized by the Atrium which contains a large banking hall incorporating architectural features from both the historic and modern components of the complex. This hall includes a 40-metre (131 ft) large, metal structure referred to as the "Circle of the Provinces" which houses the teller services for the Bank of Nova Scotia's main branch.
In 2012, Scotiabank sold the tower to two Toronto based companies (Dundee REIT and H&R REIT), thus becoming the last of Canada's Big Banks to divest ownership of their head office towers in Toronto.
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Scotia Plaza; viewed through the trees in front of the Toronto-Dominion Centre
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Scotia Plaza construction
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Scotia Plaza in 2006
Read more about this topic: Scotia Plaza
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