The site of the 2017 Conference is an example of modernist architectural design. The Viscount Gort Hotel is located at 1670 Portage Avenue between Kintyre Street and Century Street in Winnipeg..
According to Winnipeg Architectural Foundation, the hotel was constructed in 1960, by Winnipeg architect Roy M. Lev (1930 to 2010). When approaching from the south or the west, the building has a distinctive cubist silhouette.
Lev’s original scheme featured a modernist design of modular box-like forms staggered across its triangular site. Clad in brick, the building featured an exposed concrete structural grid and extensive glazing.
The project was named for the Irish-English Seventh Viscount Gorth, Robert Standish Gage Prendergast Vereker Gort. Gort first visited Winnipeg in 1911 and in 1917 purchased six acres of St. James-Assiniboia, land on which the motor hotel was later developed.
In the last 57 years, the building has been subject to renovations, which includes a 2006 expansion to provide a 1,400-square-metre banquet and convention centre and 72 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
Other works by the architect include:
- 824 Brock Street, 1959
- El-Nor Motel, Falcon Lake, 1959
- Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Avenue, 1960
- 811 Oak Street, 1961
- Dakota Motor Hotel, 1969
- National Promotions Offices, 1507 Inkster Boulevard, 1969
- Dover Place, 800 Corydon Avenue, 1969
- Canadian Admiral Corporation, 1170 St. James Street, 1970
- 831 Portage Avenue, 1970
