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With a public skating rink planned next to a historic railway station, Cadillac Fairview aims to bring new life to the courtyard of its office project. 'We want it to be used. It’s a bit Rockefeller Plaza-like.’

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Located on Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal, the Deloitte Tower will rise 26 storeys – with 22 floors for offices and three levels of parking. It will be located between two Montreal landmarks, the Bell Centre, home to the Montreal Canadiens, and the heritage-designated Windsor Station. Deloitte will be the anchor tenant for the building – the first new privately owned commercial tower to be built in the city in 20 years.

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Developer Cadillac Fairview chose architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) for the project. KPF joined forces with B+H Architects and Montreal-based Lemay Associés. The team has given Deloitte Tower a strong presence and unique personality. ‘While basically square in plan, the tower massing is split in the north-south direction …The tower forms are sculpted with large facets and angled tops to produce a distinctive and recognizable urban presence, and to create a contemporary backdrop to the Windsor Station courtyard,’ says Josh Chaiken of KPF.

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A soaring glass, metal and stone lobby will integrate elements of a nineteenth-century heritage rail shed – the Bush shed, a remnant of Windsor Station’s original rail platforms. And, reflecting the building’s new links, the lobby will offer a direct pedestrian connection to the Bell Centre, home to the Montreal Canadiens.

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Outside in the Deloitte Tower courtyard, Cadillac Fairview is planning to build a reflecting pool that will become a public skating rink in the winter. ‘There will only be one skating rink that will be next door to the Bell Centre. We thought that was a great public amenity that can bring life to the courtyard, and we want it to be used. It’s a bit Rockefeller Plaza-like,’ says Sal Iacono, senior vice-president, development and portfolio management for Cadillac Fairview in Eastern Canada. A 250-seat restaurant is also planned for the courtyard level. ‘Windsor Station [seen here with its green roof] is a heritage protected building … and it was quickly agreed that the juxtaposition of a brand-new building with a heritage building alongside it would be the best of all worlds. We picked Kohn Pedersen Fox out of New York because of our previous work with them, and they were also the designers of 1250 René-Lévesque half a block away,” Mr. Iacono adds.

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While Windsor Station, left, has been decommissioned, it’s still an office for some CP Rail executives and departments and an event-retail-restaurant space. Montreal’s underground Metro network can be accessed from Windsor Station. The $200-million Deloitte Tower is scheduled to open in the summer of 2015. It aims to be Montreal’s first LEED Platinum office building with 30 to 40 per cent lower energy use than in typical office towers.

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