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In the course of our daily reporting, we often uncover unusual projects, places, or connections that don't make the final cut. Instead of keeping it to ourselves, we're pleased to share our weekly Architrivia.
Towering high above the historic peaks and dormers of Old Quebec City, the 18-storey, 1931-built Édifice Price, or 'Price Building,' was once the site of mass public disdain and controversy. Despite its stately Art Deco detailing, the modernist tower was viewed by many at the time as tantamount to vandalism. Beyond the tower's highly anachronistic appearance, the public controversy was brought to a fever pitch when its construction necessitated the removal of two historic homes from the heart of the ancient city.
Constructed by the prominent Montreal firm of Ross and MacDonald, the Price Building features a handsome heavily Art Deco-influenced stone facade, decorated at various intervals with a mixture of floral and geometric bas-reliefs, typical of the era and style. Built with graduating setbacks, the tower's profile becomes increasingly slender towards the upper floors. The pinnacle is topped with a more classical copper roof, highly reminiscent of the nearby Château Frontenac whose central tower features a strikingly similar copper roof element. Built using steel-frame architecture, the Price Building also represents a first for Quebec City, which to this day features nothing of its type within the heritage-protected Historic District.
Since 2001, the 16th and 17th floors of the Price Building have constituted the official residence of the Premier of Quebec, which at the time of construction was reported to cost just shy of $200,000 CAD to build and decorate. The penthouse residence has been under continual public scrutiny, and the lavish two-floor suite, complete with 14-guest dining room and associated Reception Hall, has since been outfitted with expensive luxury finishes and furnishings, its walls adorned with art on loan from the Musée du Québec.
Despite its persistent history of controversy, and whatever one's political stripe, the Price Building remains a beautiful example of high Art Deco design, with a stone facade, detailing, and distinctive copper roof that help it blend into the surrounding skyline.
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