Canadian Broadcasting Centre

Canadian Broadcasting Centre

  The Canadian Broadcasting Centre is the home of the CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION in Toronto. Located on Front Street West in the city's downtown, the centre is the result of a 12-year planning and design process and followed by a 4-year construction period before final occupancy in 1993. The building houses all the operations of the CBC's local and national English-language and local and regional French-language radio and television broadcasting services.

The Canadian Broadcasting Centre was developed as the result of a proposal call process in which the Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited was selected to develop the 9.3 acre site, owned by the CBC, and build the centre, which was then leased to the CBC on a long-term basis. The Centre occupies the western portion of the site, while the eastern portion contains the Workman's Compensation headquarters building, a public park and space for residential and commercial use.

Total construction cost of the Broadcast Centre was $381 million. The design concept, developed by Barton, Myers Associates, comprises a 1.72 million square foot (gross), 10-storey building with rooftop television studios and 2 basement levels. The design of the completed building was a collaboration of Bregman + Hamann/Scott Associates Architects in joint venture with John Burgee Architects Inc and Philip Johnson, design consultant.

The building design is noteworthy for its reference to deconstructivist architecture. In plan and elevation, the building's orthogonal grid is interrupted by skewed elements. These elements appear in elevation as planes of curtain wall, interrupting the white frame and red mullions of the building's facade. The interior atrium is dominated by a bright green elevator shaft, also turned at an angle to the building grid. The stylistic references to deconstruction were an interest of the architect, Phillip Johnson, at the time of the building's design.

The broadcasting centre contains 3 major radio studios, including the Glen GOULD Performance Studio, 3 studios for radio broadcasting and 19 studios for radio network production. For television, 3 major entertainment production studios are provided, 2 studios are dedicated to local stations, 1 studio for news and 2 studios for general production.

Radio and television facilities within the broadcasting centre incorporate the new professional digital technologies. With these new technologies, integration of future and more advanced digital technologies is possible to keep radio and television facilities up-to-date. The building's main interior public space, an enclosed atrium, is the centre's focal point and was named the Barbara FRUM Atrium to commemorate the contributions of this distinguished broadcaster, who died in 1992.