1501 McGill College, Postmodern skyscraper in Downtown Montreal, Canada
1501 McGill College is a 36-story glass-clad office tower in downtown Montreal, Canada. Its curtain wall facade runs the full height of the building and mirrors the surrounding structures and sky.
1501 McGill College was designed by WZMH Architects and completed in 1992, the same year as 1000 de La Gauchetière and 1250 René-Lévesque, the city's two tallest buildings. It takes its name from its address on McGill College Avenue, facing McGill University, and was linked to McGill Metro station through the Underground City.
The top four floors form a pyramid-shaped mechanical penthouse that is lit white at night. Its colour changes with holidays and events: white, green and red at Christmas, purple and yellow at Easter, orange at Halloween, green for Saint Patrick's Day, red for Valentine's Day, and blue, white and red for the Montreal Canadiens during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The tower connects directly to McGill Metro station through Montreal's Underground City network, which makes it easy to reach in any season without going outdoors. This underground link is especially helpful during winter months when temperatures drop sharply.
The building is classified as postmodern architecture, a style that often reacts against the plain glass boxes of the modern era. Yet 1501 McGill College is almost entirely wrapped in glass, which makes it an unusual example within that architectural movement.
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