A beacon in the city:
Erected on the north side of the Balmoral block, Montreal's cultural and administrative center opens to the south onto a public square. The existing heritage buildings, thus freed, are highlighted and affirm their identity. A new building, located at the corner of Sainte-Catherine and Jeanne-Mance Streets, reinforces the definition of the block: it enhances the scale and continues the commercial vocation of Sainte-Catherine Street while delimiting the exterior square that becomes the extension of the new complex. A true planted square punctuated by café terraces and animated by ceremonial activities, this square is articulated on the periphery thanks to multiple activity zones, close to the businesses located on the first floor of the Wilder building.
The complex:
A sense of strength emanates from the chiseled cube and distinguishes it as a mecca for the arts, education, and public administration. The expressed volume seems to be in dialogue with the neighboring buildings in the Fur District. The glass projection of the symphony hall, located above Jeanne Mance Street, is surprisingly bold. On De Bleury Street, the windows of the rehearsal rooms arouse curiosity. Pedestrians on Sainte-Catherine Street are attracted by the Conservatory's above-ground clearing and its series of loggias. While the main volume of the building reflects the surrounding urban silhouette on all sides, the colored glass fragments below reproduce the activity of the street and thus appropriate the urban life that takes place there.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
Jury's appreciation:
-project is in line with the major international trends in architecture: an impulse of modernity;
-project that marks, by its exceptional architectural response, the arrival of the entertainment district;
-architectural concept constituting an object of promotion for the city;
-inventive way to create a unique urban space, by combining contemporary volumes with heritage objects, while respecting the heritage;
-project that is fully integrated into the Place-de-Arts and the urban fabric of the Fur District
-dynamic transitional site between underground Montreal and a new aerial Montreal;
-very strong urban gesture through the development of the site by using essentially the northern part.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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