Winnipeg Architecture Foundation

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Buildings

MTS Place Pioneer

Formerly:Bestlands Building
Address:191 Pioneer Avenue
Use:MTS Offices
Constructed:1974-75
Other Work:1975, 1976, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, Alterations
Architects:Moody Moore Duncan Rattray Peters Searle Christie
Firms:Moody Moore Duncan Rattray Peters Searle Christie
Contractors:Bestlands Investment Limited (Developers)

More Information

Together with the recently-constructed Board of Grain Commissioners Building to the immediate south, Royal Bank to the west and the Richardson Building one block north, these four were viewed as the launching pad for the four-corner development of the Portage and Main district that was to occur in the next twenty years.

Design Characteristics

  • Cost: $5-million
  • Area: 124,000 square feet
  • The building is twelve storeys with a thirteenth floor for mechanicals, including a huge fan room and cooling tower
  • Constructed with precast columns, floors and cladding, the interior is a column-free space, clustered around three elevators corresponding to the hall and entrance five bays in from the east side
  • Angular, with a checkerboard interplay of light and dark surfaces, the building exemplifies crisp efficiency

Sources

  • "$5 Million Bestlands Building Latest in Winnipeg's Booming Portage and Main Area." Canadian Building (June 1974): 51.
  • "News." Canadian Building (May 1975): 5.

Locations of Supporting Information

  • City of Winnipeg Archives

Links & Related Buildings