CHEVRON STANDARD BUILDING

Firm: J. H. Cook and Associates

Address: 400 5 Avenue SW

Date of final plans: 1965

Status: standing as built

The Chevron Standard Building was built for the Canadian subsidiary of Standard Oil Company of California, one of the "seven sisters" companies created in 1911 upon the breakup of John D. Rockerfeller's Standard Oil Company. The Canadian subsidiary was formed in 1938 by John Galloway as the Standard Oil Company of British Columbia Ltd. In the late 1940s it changed its name to The California Standard Company, and then in the mid 1960s it changed again to Chevron Standard Ltd. Today the company is simply called Chevron Canada.

The 10-storey Chevron Standard building was designed by J. H. Cook and Associates. The ground floor features arched bays and the in the upper portion the window bays are separated by pre-cast concrete panels.

The Montreal company Roslyn Enterprises was involved somehow in the project. I'm not certain what their role was. After the building opened Chevron occupied the top five floors. The Bank of Montreal's oil and gas department occupied much of the first floor. After Chevron moved in 1981 to the new Chevron Plaza, the name changed to the Roslyn Building. It remains almost entirely original today.