Samuel Bronfman Building -- McGill
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The Faculty of Management, once known as the School of Commerce, was
originally located in the Arts
Building. In 1942, John W. McConnell, a dedicated benefactor of McGill,
bought Purvis Hall, located
on Pine near Peel Street, for the School of Commerce and the Faculty of
Law. George H. Duggan donated his upper
McTavish Street house to the University in 1944 and after 1946 it was
occupied by the School of Commerce, yet the school was still short of space.
Welcome relief came in 1964 when the Departments of Economics and Political
Science moved into the newly erected Leacock
Building, but the School of Commerce and the Graduate School of Business
kept growing.
In 1971, Samuel Bronfman, one of McGill's most loyal contributors, came
to the rescue. He gave McGill an edifice, named in his honor, to house
the newly opened Faculty of Management, formerly the School of Commerce.
The site chosen for the Bronfman Building was at the northwest corner of
Sherbrooke and McTavish, the location, until that time, of the Prince
of Wales Terrace, one of the city's most prestigious set of row houses.
Chadwick, Pope, and Edge, were the architects who designed the new six-storey
structure, which rests solidly on a reinforced concrete frame. Identical,
precast, concrete slabs are attached to the exterior, giving the facades
a very regular appearance. To break this repetitive pattern, the ground
floor is covered in striated concrete slabs and the second floor has only
windows between the imposing columns. Overall, the exterior works well
in combination with the McLennan
Library, just across McTavish Street. The interior provided much needed
classrooms, meeting rooms, offices, and a library for the Faculty of Management
with space left over for the Departments of German, Hispanic, and Italian
Studies. The Bronfman Building is expected to continue serving McGill well
into the future. |
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Built 1971,
still standing
Architects - Chadwick, Pope, and
Edge
Donor - Samuel Bronfman
Current use - Faculty of Management,
Departments of German, Hispanic, and Italian Studies
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