3 years ago

The Sun Life Building in Montreal and surrounding areas is a beautiful sight to behold, especially at night, all lit up.
The Sun Life Building (Édifice Sun Life) is a122-metre (400 ft), 24-storey office building at 1155 Metcalfe Street in the business district on Dorchester Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was once, in square footage, the largest building anywhere in the British Empire. Today, the Sun Life Building is Montreal's 17th tallest building. In the video, you can see neighbouring Place Ville Marie and CIBC Tower. You can also see the Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral.

An exciting story about the Sun Life Building is that during the Second World War, there was something called Operation Fish,. This was when Britain's gold reserves and negotiable foreign securities were secretly packed in crates labelled 'Fish'. They were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada. The securities first arrived in Halifax on July 1, 1940. They were then moved to an underground vault three stories beneath the Sun Life Building, guarded around the clock by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (The gold shipped to Ottawa.) The 5,000 Sun Life employees never knew what was stored away beneath them.

The building was completed in 1931 after three stages of construction, built exclusively for the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. It was designed by Toronto-based architects Darling, Pearson and Cleveland (along with A.J.C. Paine, a partnering architect from Montréal for Phase III).

According to the Sun Life building website, |The cafeteria in the Sun Life Building opened in 1930, occupying the entire 6th floor. At that time, it operated five days per week throughout the year, serving close to 2,500 meals in 80 minutes. The cafeteria underwent major renovations in 1960, and remained in operation until 1996." https://www.sunlifebuilding.ca/history/

Co-owners, Sun Life Financial and Group Petra won the“2019 Illumination Award of Excellence for Outdoor Lighting Design”. They "invested more than $1 million in 2018 to install an energy efficient outdoor lighting system that illuminates the entire Building and showcases its unique and impressive architecture when night falls." - which you can see in the video.https://www.sunlifebuilding.ca/history/

Credits of Photos of Sun Life Building
"Edifice Sun Life Building" by ericvery (creative commons) - pillars
"Sun Life Building. Montreal. Canada, -57" by McGill Library (public domain)
Second historic photo: "Sun Life Building. Montreal, Canada." by McGill Library
"Sun Life Building, Montreal" by Odi Kosmatos (close up of windows)
"Sun Life Building in winter" by MassiveKontent (black and white with tree in front)
"The Sun Life Building in Montreal at night in the snow" by neilalderney123 (colourful photo)
"Sun Life Building - Montreal, Quebec" by vwcampin (with Boer War Memorial statue in Square Dorchester in Centre Ville in Montreal, Quebec in Canada) - unveiled in Dominion Square (now Dorchester Square) on May 24, 1907. The bronze sculpture was created by George W. Hill (1862–1934) and the granite pedestal was designed by Edward Maxwell and William S. Maxwell.
"Sun Life Building (un-corrected)" by Can Pac Swire (photo of building with flags in front)

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