Tour de la Banque Royale, Neoclassical skyscraper in Old Montreal, Canada
Royal Bank Tower is a 22-storey, 121-metre Neoclassical skyscraper at 360 Saint-Jacques Street in Old Montreal, designed by York and Sawyer with Sumner Godfrey Davenport. Its tower rises from a podium modelled on Florentine palaces, and the bank vault was designed by Frederick S. Holmes.
The Royal Bank moved its head office from Halifax to Montreal in 1907 and, short of space, commissioned New York firm York and Sawyer in 1926 to build a new headquarters. The bank bought and demolished the block between Saint-Jacques, Saint-Pierre, Notre-Dame and Dollard Streets, including the old Mechanics' Institute and the ten-storey Bank of Ottawa building. The tower opened in spring 1928; the bank left for Place Ville-Marie in 1962, keeping a branch in the main hall until July 2012.
The interior features a grand banking hall designed like a Roman civil basilica, with marble, colored plaster ceilings, and gilded bronze ornaments throughout. This lavish design reflects how financial institutions wanted to showcase their power and permanence to visitors.
The building is accessible via public streets and sits near other historic landmarks in the neighborhood. Visitors can view the exterior facade and public entrance areas, though access to interior spaces depends on current tenants and their policies.
The elevator doors feature allegorical panels depicting Canadian economic activities, a detail many visitors overlook during their visits. These ornaments tell the story of the country's industrial and commercial development through their visual language.
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