[en] The form of the containment building is a function of the requirements imposed by various systems. In order to provide sufficient driving force for naturally-circulated emergency cooling systems, as well as providing a gravity-driven core flooding pool function, the Canadian SCWR reactor design relies on elevation differences between the reactor and the safety systems. These elevation differences, the required cooling pool volumes and the optimum layout of safety-related piping are major factors influencing the plant design. As a defence-in-depth, the containment building and safety systems also provide successive barriers to the unplanned release of radioactive materials, while providing a path for heat flow to the ultimate heat sink, the atmosphere. Access to the reactor for refuelling is from the top of the reactor, with water used as shielding during the refuelling operations. The accessibility to the reactor and protection of the environment are additional factors influencing the plant design. This paper describes the physical implementation of the major systems of the Canadian SCWR within the reactor building, and the position of major plant services relative to the reactor building. (author)