Trader's Bank Building, High-rise bank building at Yonge Street, Toronto, Canada
The Trader's Bank Building is a 15-story high-rise with a facade of stone, brick, and terra cotta featuring tall rectangular windows separated by ornate columns. The structure faces Yonge Street and displays the solid, formal design intended for a major financial institution of the early 1900s.
Completed in 1906, the 55-meter structure held the title of tallest building in the British Commonwealth until the Royal Liver Building surpassed it in 1911. This period reflected the rapid evolution of urban architecture, with records broken in quick succession.
The banking culture of early Toronto is reflected in the interior, where the two-story banking hall features a central staircase and teller stations along the walls, showing how financial institutions once operated. This layout reveals how customers moved through the space and how money was handled in those times.
The building features fire doors that automatically seal elevator shafts and staircases during emergencies, with two large fire escapes at the rear providing additional exit routes. Visitors should note that access to interior spaces may be limited, as the building remains in active use for commercial purposes.
The construction required two million bricks and 1,700 tons of steel beams, with workers completing roughly one floor per week. This rapid construction pace was remarkable for the time and demonstrated growing industrial efficiency in building large structures.
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