Provencher_Roy received a National Urban Design Award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) for its Technopôle Angus – Phase II development project, during the RAIC’s 2016 Festival of Architecture. The National Urban Design Awards celebrate excellence in urban design, emphasizing the important role it plays in maintaining and enhancing the quality of life in Canadian cities. It is with great pleasure that Claude Provencher, architect, senior partner and co-founder, Matthieu Geoffrion, architect and partner, and Sylvain Gariépy, urban planner and partner, attended the event in Nanaimo.

The festival jury awarded the prize to Technopôle Angus — Phase II because “the design creates a public realm with a high degree of pedestrian connectivity and permeability. The plan includes its own validation, outlines clear objectives and then demonstrates how it is meeting those objectives. This exemplary rationalization of the design of the public realm will serve as a clear guide for subsequent architectural development.” Moreover, the project was a perfect fit with the festival’s theme this year: CONNEXIONS.

Background

Located inside the limits of the Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie borough and built on the brownfields of the storied Angus Shops, the Technopôle Angus is a real estate complex with a mission to create jobs in Montreal. The urban plan for the Îlot central (Phase II), steered by the Société de développement Angus (SDA), concerns the last vacant lot of the area still available, and is part of an initiative to revitalize the site through an innovative development scheme. The SDA wishes to create a genuine living environment likely to attract and retain businesses. To this end, the plan proposes a denser, innovative built environment, an affordable on-site residential component, and the creation of quality public spaces.

Job creation and mix of uses

In order to create a living environment that is socially, ecologically and economically “responsible,”  for the benefit of future businesses, tenants, employers and the Ville de Montréal alike, the urban plan revolves around job creation and a mix of uses. Consequently, the SDA proposes an attractive site that is adapted to the needs of businesses, which include quality spaces, affordable nearby housing, and access to a large labour pool. The Technopôle seeks to establish itself as the benchmark of a new quality of life for Montrealers, where one’s workplace and home are a short walk apart and where pedestrians are prioritized. The area, which is currently partially isolated, will open out onto the surrounding neighbourhood by offering local services and entertainment options, which for the time being are rather limited.

Commitment to sustainable development

This future green neighbourhood promises to have a minimal ecological footprint. On many levels, it will constitute a veritable laboratory for responsible development. One of the project’s most innovative features will be the site-wide integration of an energy transfer loop that will recover unused heat from all possible sources, including geothermal wells, for the purpose of redistributing it where it is needed at any particular time. The SDA will also incorporate efficient measures for the management of water and waste. Businesses, especially those involved in the social economy, urban agriculture or green construction, will find in the Technopôle Angus an innovative and stimulating work environment.

About Provencher_Roy

Provencher_Roy, a leader in urban architecture in Canada, is a multidisciplinary firm providing services in architecture, urban design, urban planning, interior design, industrial design and sustainable development. The firm employs over 200 professionals involved in all aspects of the built environment, in Canada and abroad. To date, the firm’s work has been recognized with more than 80 architectural awards and distinctions in Québec, the rest of Canada, and abroad. In 2015, Provencher_Roy was the recipient of the Architectural Firm award handed out by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC).

About the Société de développement Angus

The Société de développement Angus is a social enterprise founded in 1995 following the closure of the Angus Shops in Montreal’s Rosemont neighbourhood. To bring jobs and vitality back to this vast site, the SDA, in close collaboration with the local community, provided the impetus and momentum for a unifying, mobilizing project: Technopôle Angus. The SDA’s mission is to undertake urban renewal projects that embody the principles of sustainable development and that generate substantial spinoffs for the local community.

TECHNICAL DATA SHEET

Development plan for Technopôle Angus – Phase II, Montreal

CLIENT: Société de développement Angus

YEAR: 2012 to present

STATUS: Approval of general plan

PROGRAM: Jobs, Residential, Commercial, Park

DISCIPLINES: Architecture, Urban Design, Sustainability

PARTNERS IN CHARGE: Claude Provencher, Claude Bourbeau, Matthieu Geoffrion, Sylvain Gariépy

LANDSCAPING: NIP PAYSAGE

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING: PASQUIN ST-JEAN

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING: PAGEAU MOREL

CIVIL ENGINEERING: PASQUIN ST-JEAN

CERTIFICATION SOUGHT: LEED ND (Neighbourhood Development) Gold

AREA: ± 37,000 m² (site of the Îlot central) and 93,000 m² (floor area for same site)