Queen Elizabeth II Building, Art Deco government building at Legislature grounds, Edmonton, Canada
The Queen Elizabeth II Building is an eleven-storey Art Deco building in downtown Edmonton, with a steel frame clad in Manitoba Tyndall stone and granite. Its lobby is inset with marble and nickel-plated metalwork, using six kinds of marble, some from England and France. The eleventh floor, added in the 2009–2015 renovation, looks over the legislature, the North Saskatchewan River valley and the downtown skyline.
Designed by Edmonton architect George Heath MacDonald in 1939, the Federal Public Building was delayed by World War II and built from 1955 to 1958, when John Diefenbaker opened it. The federal government used it for western Canadian offices until 1988; Alberta had bought it for $20.5 million in 1983, and it stood vacant until renovations finished in 2015.
The building's name changed from the Federal Public Building to the Queen Elizabeth II Building on September 27, 2022, after Buckingham Palace granted permission that August for the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Lieutenant Governor Salma Lakhani and Premier Jason Kenney attended the renaming, held after the Queen's death.
The building sits in the northeast corner of the Alberta Legislature grounds, overlooking the Violet King Henry Plaza, whose public spaces and recreational areas opened in summer 2015. Provincial staff and MLAs began moving in during February 2015. The eleventh floor, added in the renovation, gives views of the legislature, the North Saskatchewan River valley and the downtown skyline.
The 2009–2015 renovation by Kasian Architecture added an eleventh floor and cost an estimated $403 million, well above the $356 million announced in 2008. The building holds LEED Gold certification.
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