Haute Couture
Sainte-Catherine is all about excess and effervescence. Through the splendor of its department stores, the incessant activity day and night, the concentration of businesses - the largest in Canada, Sainte-Catherine inspires a loss of sense of proportion; the construction site celebrates this excess!
The construction site show
Haute Couture is a showcase of the work that, through a series of interventions, expresses itself as a unifying gesture, a seam perpetuating the dynamism of the artery. The gigantic towers, the oversized pedestrian bridges, the vertiginous tier create as many opportunities to appreciate the making of the new Sainte-Catherine Street. A unique opportunity for users to transgress the limits and to have "access" to the construction site. Like haute couture, the intervention evokes a delicate operation made to measure. It is made up of unique pieces that follow a simple and modular pattern and is expressed in the form of a grandiose spectacle.
Excessive landmarks
The towers assert the presence of the site loud and clear. Their disproportionate scale dialogues with that of the city center and opens up new perspectives from east to west. Visible from the neighboring streets, they act as beacons to help understand the progress of the site. First draped in green to announce the arrival of the work, then in blue to underline its completion, they participate in the evolution of the experience of the site over time. Their dancing silhouette, created by a simple stacking of steel modules, varies according to the angle at which they are installed.
A versatile assembly pattern
Haute Couture is a heartfelt tribute to the folie de grandeur of Saint Cath and the merchants who helped forge that reputation. The access footbridges to the businesses allow the staging of their banners and clearly mark their presence to visitors, ensuring the continuation of activities. Composed of a steel module similar to that of the towers, but this time draped in a flamboyant pink aluminum fabric, they combine elegance and functionality. In addition to reconnecting the street and the businesses, they offer a display support to the merchants, maintain the circulation of a hindered sidewalk, and improvise themselves as a belvedere when they pierce the construction site fences. They strategically link the north and south sides of Sainte-Catherine Street, allowing the straight line forced by the pedestrian corridors to be transgressed. These micro-spaces on the edge of the construction site offer the opportunity to stop and contemplate. They are privileged places for information and appreciation of the progress of the work. Their varied combinations evolve according to the different phases of the construction site, over the seasons and events, creating a constantly renewed experience.
A site that can be appropriated
Always in the front row of the works, the information pavilion offers its roof to passers-by wishing to fully experience the worksite. It offers an aerial viewpoint from which to appreciate Sainte-Cath adorned with its most beautiful towers and walkways. Once on site, the step delimits the work zone and, when the situation allows it, the pavilion can open up and extend its activities to its surroundings.
Sainte-Cath on its 31
Haute Couture offers a simple, distinctive and versatile graphic signature. Whether it is for the site fencing, the towers, the footbridges or the reception pavilion, the graphic design can be adapted to the context of the site. The signature is directly inspired by the graphic language of sewing patterns.
Living the site, no matter what the obstacle
Modular and simple, the various Haute Couture assemblies are easy to move, relocate and interlock. Thus, no matter the type of obstruction, the walkway modules are simply lifted by the contractor's mechanical equipment and become protected accesses to businesses, safe passages over major excavation zones, and lookouts for the curious who want to assess the progress of the work in public squares and parks. The towers, just as easy to assemble, are self-supporting and take up no more space than a parking space, allowing them to be deployed outside the work zones. The bleachers and the information kiosk, strategically located for each phase, are fully mobile and can be moved as easily as any other traditional worksite equipment. In terms of costs, the structures are economical and entirely reusable: the canvases attached to them allow for customization and adaptation to the phasing of the work site.
A construction site as large as Sainte-Cath
Haute Couture celebrates the excess, the intensity and the gigantism that Sainte-Catherine Street evokes. Like the world of haute couture, the intervention evokes those great houses that have become unavoidable and whose fame transcends the physical location. We'll want to go to Ste-Cath during the construction, because Ste-Cath is huge, even during construction!
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
This concept stages the site, and it does it very well. The aesthetics of the installations and the formal language are also one of the strengths of the service. The interventions are presented on several levels, which will give an interesting perspective and different points of view on the site for the users.
In terms of functional and operational issues, the service is very well done. The team has mastered the constraints associated with the site and the intelligence of the design of the modular structures is proof of this. The team is also very experienced and has the expertise required to complete this project. However, the issues of signage, communication and dissemination have not been addressed in the service, although this is an important aspect for the success of the project and user acceptance. The narrative and the content are a shortcoming of the concept presented.
The delivery responds to the program's issues, but it does not deliver the excess and excitement that the team talks about. The user experience is also not very varied. It is more about contemplation and little about walking. The jury liked the proposal in phase 1 for its considerable impact in the space, in keeping with the scale of Sainte-Catherine Street. However, the project has since been diluted, thus losing some of the enchantment it had generated in the first phase.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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