Sir John A. Macdonald Building

The Sir John A. Macdonald Building features a row of six massive limestone columns that support a heavy, sculpted pediment facing Wellington Street. This structure began as the Bank of Montreal in nineteen thirty-two, serving as a bastion of financial power designed to project absolute stability. Its architects chose a grand Beaux-Arts style to match the neighboring Parliament buildings. Years later, crews gutted the interior to house parliamentary offices, uncovering a hidden underground vault door that still sits in the basement.