Golden Square Mile in Montreal in Montréal, Québec — Central Canada (French-Canadian)

Percy E. Nobbs

Architect

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2024

1. Percy E. Nobbs Marker

Inscription. In memory of
Percy E. Nobbs
Architect
1875-1964

who contributed this distinguished building and many others to the cause of good architecture in Canada

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Notable Buildings. A significant historical year for this entry is 1875.

Location. 45° 29.945′ N, 73° 34.522′ W. Marker is in Montreal, Québec, in Montréal. It is in Golden Square Mile. It is on Rue Drummond just north of Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, on the left when traveling north. The marker is near the northwest corner of the Drummond Medical Building, facing Rue Drummond. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1414 Rue Drummond, Montreal QC H3B 2S7, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Montréal.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

and the Western World.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance

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of this marker: George Stephen (within shouting distance of this marker); Maison George Stephen / George Stephen House (within shouting distance of this marker); Ritz-Carlton (about 240 meters away, measured in a direct line); Maison Alcan (approx. 0.2 kilometers away); Appartements Acadia (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Maison Reid Wilson (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Holt Renfrew (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Maison Louis-Joseph Forget (approx. 0.3 kilometers away).

Also see . . .
1. Percy Erskine Nobbs (Wikipedia).

Excerpt: Percy Erskine Nobbs FRIBA RCA (11 August 1875 – 5 November 1964) was a Scottish-Canadian architect who was born in Haddington, East Lothian, and trained in the United Kingdom. Educated at the Edinburgh Collegiate School and Edinburgh University, he spent most of his career in the Montreal area. Often working in partnership with George Taylor Hyde, Nobbs designed a great many of what would become Montreal's heritage buildings and was a key Canadian proponent of the Arts and Crafts Movement in architecture. He served as the director of McGill University's School of Architecture for ten years.
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2024

2. Percy E. Nobbs Marker
The marker is mounted near the northwest corner of the Drummond Medical Building, facing Rue Drummond.
He designed many buildings on the campus as well as McGill's Coat of Arms, which continues to be used today.

(Submitted on November 11, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. Drummond Medical Building (Images and Buildings of Montréal).

Excerpt: Architect: George Taylor Hyde and Percy Erskine Nobbs. Constructor and other companies involved in construction: Anglin-Norcross Limités. This building has Art Deco influences; a style widely spread from the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris in 1925. This style is characterized by the presence of many ornamentations in the facade and a focus on vertical lines.

(Submitted on November 11, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

3. Drummond Medical Building (McGill Archival Collections Catalogue).

Excerpt: “Designed in 1929, the building was a Birks investment venture with shops at street level and suites of medical offices on the floors above. Accordingly, Nobbs devised a design for the window breasts in blue and old gold terra cotta which incorporated the medical cross symbol. By 1929 semi-modern tendencies including Art
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2024

3. Drummond Medical Building (main lobby entrance)
Deco had begun to appear in the city, and although the Drummond Medical Building represents an awareness of new trends and marks an advance over the base-shaft-cornice arrangement of the New Birks Building, Nobbs did not find completely abstract ornament sufficiently articulate to suit his purpose. Even so, the north façade, with its slim central shaft of windows, is a supremely elegant example of streamline composition. The Drummond Medical Building still retains its handsome iron canopy covering the main entrance — ironwork being another of Nobbs’s decorative media.” (Susan Wagg, Percy Erskine Nobbs: Architect, Artist, Craftsman (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1982), 70)

(Submitted on November 11, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Drummond Medical Building image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2024

4. Drummond Medical Building

Iron canopy covering the main entrance.

Drummond Medical Building (<i>north elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2024

5. Drummond Medical Building (north elevation)

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2024

6. Drummond Medical Building (north elevation)

Drummond Medical Building (<i>northeast elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2024

7. Drummond Medical Building (northeast elevation)

Drummond Medical Building (<i>northwest elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2024

8. Drummond Medical Building (northwest elevation)

Credits. This page was last revised on November 12, 2026. It was originally submitted on November 11, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 7 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on November 11, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.