- Les Cours Mont-Royal
-
Les Cours Mont-Royal, from De Maisonneuve Boulevard.
Les Cours Mont-Royal is an upscale shopping centre in Downtown Montreal, Quebec which was converted from the former Mount Royal Hotel. Since 1988, Les Cours Mont-Royal has provided exclusive boutiques offering designer brands and unique fashions and accessories for both men and women in a prestigious shopping environment.
Contents
Architectural Elements
Designed by Ross and Macdonald, a prolific architectural firm in Montreal and across Canada, and completed in 1922, the Mount Royal Hotel was the largest of its kind in the British Empire, with 1,100 rooms. Erected on the site of Montreal High School at 1455 Peel Street, the construction of this building in the Beaux-Arts architectural style was part of a larger trend in the then largest city of Canada to attract high-class tourists with luxurious edifices. Other famous buildings by Ross and Macdonald in Montreal include Holt Renfrew, the Montreal Neurological Institute, the Centre Eaton (now Complexe les Ailes), the Dominion Square Building and Trinity Memorial Church in Westmount.[1]
The interior was gutted and the exterior was cleaned and repaired in the late 1980s. The only internal remnant of the hotel is the ceiling of the big entrance lobby. This lobby has a huge chandelier taken from the Monte Carlo casino. The shopping area is organized around four large courts, hence the French name "Les Cours". Under the main skylight there are six bird-human sculptures by the Inuit artist David Ruben Piqtoukun.
Tenants and Facilities
The top of the building has several floors of luxury condos. They have separate elevators and entrances, set apart from those of the shopping centre's street doors and subway tunnels. In between the top condo levels and the mall at the base there are several floors of office space.
The building is accessible via Peel Metro Station and connects to the city's underground network of shopping centers, hotels and transportation hubs. Known for its unique fashion boutiques, Les Cours Mont-Royal Shopping Centre is mainly composed of fashion retailers, with a few additional features and services including Montreal's largest spa and a catwalk for fashion shows and other events.
References
- Gray, Jeremy. Montreal. Lonely Planet, 2004. p. 61.
- McKay, Emma ed. Montreal. p. 57 and 197.
- Ulysses Travel Guides Collective (2007). Montreal. Montreal: Ulysses Travel Guides. ISBN 978-2-89464-797-4. http://www.ulyssesguides.com/catalogue/FicheProduit.aspx?n=Montreal-Ulysses-Travel-Guide&isbn=9782894647974. p. 99.
- ^ "Ross et MacDonald", Images Montreal. http://www.imtl.org. Accessed April 21, 2009.
External links
Categories:- Shopping malls in Montreal
- 1922 architecture
- Hotels in Montreal
- Ross and Macdonald buildings
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
