The
Canada Life Building is a historic office building in
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
,
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The fifteen-floor
Beaux Arts building was built by
Sproatt & RolphHenry Sproatt was a Canadian architect in the early 20th Century.Born in Toronto, he trained in Europe and in New York. He formed a partnership with another celebrated architect, John A. Pearson in 1890 and with Frank Darling in 1893...
and stands at 285 feet (86.9 m), 321 feet (97.8 m) including its
weather beaconA weather beacon is a beacon that indicates the local weather forecast in a code of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem or jingle accompanies the code to make it easier to remember....
.
It is located at
UniversityUniversity Avenue is a major north-south road in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At its north end, University Avenue is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building. The eight-lane wide street is the location for several hospitals, numerous office buildings, Osgoode Hall and the Four Seasons...
and
Queen StreetQueen Street West describes both the western branch of Queen Street, a major east-west thoroughfare, and a series of neighbourhoods or commercial districts, situated west of Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Queen Street begins in the west at the intersection of King Street, The...
in the city's downtown. Work on the new headquarters of the Canada Life Assurance Company began in 1929 and it opened in 1931. It was the fourth building to serve as the headquarters of Canada Life, Canada's oldest, and at the time largest, insurance company. Previously it had been housed in offices at Bay and King Street.
The
Beaux Arts structure was the first of a series of planned structures along
University AvenueUniversity Avenue is a major north-south road in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At its north end, University Avenue is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building. The eight-lane wide street is the location for several hospitals, numerous office buildings, Osgoode Hall and the Four Seasons...
, but the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
halted these plans. When it was completed it was one of the tallest buildings in Toronto. It remains one of the largest office buildings in Toronto with windows that can be opened by its occupants.
Weather beacon
The building is perhaps best known for its
weather beaconA weather beacon is a beacon that indicates the local weather forecast in a code of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem or jingle accompanies the code to make it easier to remember....
, installed on August 9, 1951. The beacon flashes green for clear weather, red for cloudy, flashing red for rain, and white for snow. Lights affixed to the support tower indicate variations in temperature.
The beacon's colour-coded translations of weather information provide onlookers with "predictions at a glance". The information is updated four times daily, seven days a week, by
Environment CanadaEnvironment Canada , legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment Canada (EC) (French: Environnement Canada), legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment...
's Weather Centre at Pearson International Airport.
The beacon was the first of its kind to appear in Canada and was built at a cost of CAD$25,000. The top of the beacon tower stands 321 feet (97.8 m) above University Avenue and, upon completion, measured third only to the
Royal York HotelThe Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway...
and the 476 feet (145.1 m), 34-storey
Canadian Bank of Commerce BuildingCommerce Court is a complex of four office buildings on King- and Bay-streets in the financial district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, The main tenant is the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce...
(the tallest in the British Commonwealth until 1962) as the tallest edifice peak in Toronto.
Weather beacon signal codes
The beacon's weather codes are updated four times daily:
- Steady green = fair weather
- Steady red = cloudy skies
- White flashes = scattered flurries
- Red flashes = rain
- Lights running up = rising temperatures
- Lights running down = falling temperatures
- Steady lights = steady temperature
Canada Life Tower
Canada Life Tower is an addition to the building, built directly west of the original. It connects to the original building through an enclosed,
elevated walkwayIn an urban setting, a skyway, catwalk, sky bridge, or skywalk is a type of pedway consisting of an enclosed or covered bridge between two buildings. This protects pedestrians from the weather. These skyways are usually owned by businesses, and are therefore not public spaces...
; it totals 16 floors and was designed by
Kuwabara Payne McKennaBruce Bunji Kuwabara, B.Arch, OAA, FRAIC, RCA, AIA is a Canadian architect and partner in the firm Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects ....
. It was completed in 2005.
See also
- Canada Life Building, Montreal
The Canada Life Building in Montreal, Quebec, Canada was completed in 1895 by Buffalo, New York architect Richard Waite and is an example of a first-generation skyscraper....
External links