This list of tallest buildings in Yellowknife ranks skyscrapers over 30m (100feet) tall in the city of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Yellowknife is the capital of and largest city in the Northwest Territories and the second largest in Northern Canada. As of 2011, the city contains 3 skyscrapers 50m (160feet) and over, with a further 7 high-rise buildings that exceed 30m (100feet) in height.[1] The tallest building in the city, and the NWT, is the 17-storey, 60m (200feet) Centre Square – Northern Heights.[2] This building was constructed in a postmodernist architectural style, representing the city's efforts to add visual interest into the skyline. The second-tallest building in the city is the Watermark Tower (Polar Apartments), standing at 50m (160feet) tall with 15 storeys.
Having a population of almost 20,000 people, Yellowknife has a skyline that is disproportionately large, considering its size, population, and location. This is due to Yellowknife's position in a vast resource-rich area in Northern Canada, a region larger than India.[3] [4] More specifically it is the capital of the Northwest Territories which compose a large part of Northern Canada. Yellowknife is the largest city in the Northwest Territories, and, as such, many large businesses such as diamond-mining and iron-mining consortiums are headquartered or have bases in the city. The city acts as a distribution point for many of these resources. Yellowknife is connected to the southern Canadian city of Edmonton via the Yellowknife and Mackenzie Highways.
This list ranks buildings in Yellowknife that stand at least 30m (100feet) tall, based on CTBUH height measurement standards. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts.
| Rank | Name | Image | Height | Floors | Completed | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Centre Square – Northern Heights (mixed use) | 60m (200feet) | 17 | 1996 |
| |||
| 2= | Watermark Tower (Polar Apartments) (residential) | 50m (160feet) | 15 | 2003 | [5] | |||
| 2= | Northwest Tower (office) | 50m (160feet) | 12 | 1991 | [6] | |||
| 4 | Scotia Centre (office) | 45m (148feet) | 11 | 1979 | [7] | |||
| 5 | Coast Fraser Tower (hotel) | 42m (138feet) | 14 | 1970 | [8] [9] | |||
| 6 | Precambrian Building (office) | 41m (135feet) | 11 | 1976 | [10] | |||
| 7 | Anderson – Thomson Tower (residential) | 38m (125feet) | 11 | 1986 | [11] [12] | |||
| 8 | Bellanca Building (office) | 36m (118feet) | 10 | 1973 | [13] [14] | |||
| 9 | Northern United Place | 34.5m (113.2feet) | 10 | 1976 | [15] [16] |
At 76m (249feet) the Robertson headframe located at Con Mine was the tallest building in Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories. The headframe which was built in 1977, sat over a mine shaft 1859m (6,099feet) deep.[17] The headframe was demolished on 29 October 2016.[18] [19] [20]
The Explorer Hotel is located on 49th Avenue in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. It is an eight-storey-tall modernist concrete structure built in 1974. Located atop an outcrop overlooking downtown, the hotel is one of the most prominent buildings in the city, and claims to be the largest hotel in Northern Canada; it has also been described as the city's best and grandest. It is owned and operated by Nunastar Properties. The building was expanded in 2008 and 2019.
The Greenstone Building on Franklin Avenue downtown houses offices of 16 different federal government agencies. Before its completion in 2005, on time and under budget, those offices had been scattered in different locations. In 2007 it was certified LEED Gold by the Canadian Green Building Council for its environmental sustainability; among other features it generates some of its own electricity through building-integrated photovoltaics. It was the first building in the Canadian North to receive LEED certification of any level.[21]
Mackenzie Place, known locally as the High Rise, is a 17-storey building located in Hay River on the south side of Great Slave Lake. Although no accurate height is known it is sometimes called the tallest building in the NWT. An estimated height of 57.64m (189.11feet) is given for the building that was completed in 1975 and was until the building of Centre Square – Northern Heights in 1996 the tallest building for 40 years. Unlike Yellowknife there are no other buildings in Hay River of any height so it dominates the skyline and is visible from 75km (47miles) away.[22] [23] [24] [25] [26]
The Northwest Territories Legislative Building is the home of the Government of the Northwest Territories. The most recent building was built in 1993 and commenced usage in 1994. The Legislative Assembly has used many permanent and temporary facilities throughout its history.
The current building is two stories tall with two round halls, the Great Hall and the Caucus Room. It is located in Yellowknife, and overlooks Frame Lake. It was designed by Ferguson Simek Clark/Pin Matthews (of Yellowknife) in association with Matsuzaki Wright Architects (of Vancouver), and landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander.
| Period | Name | Height | Floors | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 – 1979 | Coast Fraser Tower | 41m (135feet) | 11 | 1970 |
| 1979 – 1991 | Scotia Centre | 45m (148feet) | 11 | 1979 |
| 1991 – 1996 | Northwest Tower | 50m (160feet) | 12 | 1991 |
| 1996 – present | Centre Square – Northern Heights | 60m (200feet) | 17 | 1996 |
Of the three northern territories, the Northwest Territories is the only one that has buildings over 30m (100feet) (or 8 storeys) tall.
The tallest building in Nunavut is the 29m (95feet) tall Tukturjuk Tower in Iqaluit.
The tallest building in Yukon is the 20m (70feet) tall Mah's Point condos in Whitehorse. The city of Whitehorse had, for many years, a by-law restricting the height of buildings to 20m (70feet). The by-law was changed in 2012 allowing for 8 storeys and a height of 25m (82feet).[27] [28] [23]