The conceptual approach of the project aims to promote the influence of university knowledge and emphasize the creative energy emanating from the Faculty of Planning.
The formal approach preserves the "H" shape of the traditional convent, but enhances it by adding a new element that stands out both in terms of its position in the space and the transparency of its envelope. Thus, the new volume becomes an evanescent form allowing the creative energy to radiate.
Another important element of the project is the central core which constitutes a sort of bridge stretched between the mountain and the street. This core, which includes, among other things, the critique rooms, should allow for a clash of ideas between the different schools of the Faculty. The central core thus becomes both an element promoting the fluidity of the whole and a catalyst for creativity.
It should be noted that this winning project did not quite meet the program requirements. In the case of this project, the proposed system was reversed by keeping the institutions inside and building the workshops outside.
For this project, the neighbouring presence of the H.E.C. was also taken into consideration. We wanted to play by contrast: "as at the H.E.C. we really feel the work of miniaturization on the monumental whole, at the faculty of the development we wanted to give a larger scale to a small building, and this, by using a unique vocabulary, a more global form, less small details." (G.Saucier)
The project was built without any major changes to the original version presented in the competition.
N.B. Deshaies Raymond Blondin Baronne architectes paysagistes were part of the winning team of the competition, but were not mandated to carry out the landscaping part of the project. Instead, the landscape architects from Parent Latreille were chosen by the Direction des immeubles de l'Université de Montréal to carry out the landscaping (the winning firm having been rejected by Mr. Émile Sayegh, Parent Latreille was chosen because of their experience in landscaping university buildings).
(CCC text)
The jury appreciated the rigor of this project both in the elaboration of the new surfaces and volumes built and in the distribution of the spaces in the existing part.
In particular, the jury appreciated the following elements
- the way in which the amphitheatre is inserted into the volume of the former convent chapel, recreating a sacred place inherited from its former function;
-the architecture of glass and light in the workshops, the subtle allusion to the Bauhaus workshops that can be perceived there, the elegance of the solution that creates the new image of the Faculty;
- the general planning of the spaces which, if it may appear confusing at first glance, reveals, on closer examination, a good grouping of the workshops and offices as well as interesting proximities, in particular, between the departments of architecture and urban planning;
-the fluidity of the spaces which favors a great interdisciplinary communication and which allows the distribution of the connecting galleries between the buildings;
-the interest of the double irrigation of the building, on the first floor and garden level
-the simple and correct intervention on the façade of Côte Sainte-Catherine, which, like a banner, displays what is happening inside;
Some members of the jury expressed reservations about the quality of the space in the rear courtyards, which are too closed and too deep, as well as the location of the loading docks.
Others expressed reservations about the banal and romantic character of the southern part of the garden.
However, as a whole, the jury considers that there is a good relationship between the architecture and the landscape along the streets, but that the articulation of the landscape and the architecture should be better defined, in particular with the role of the workshops and the southern part of the landscaped area, in accordance with the intentions expressed by the authors of the project in their presentation text.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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