The “Stade de soccer de Montréal” by Saucier+Perrotte architectes / Hcma, is awarded a Silver title in the ‘Architectural Design/Recreational Architecture’ category of the 2016 American Architecture Prize. 

The new sport venue has been named a winner in the first edition of the annual American Architecture Prize, which recognizes the most outstanding projects worldwide across three disciplines: architectural design, interior design, and landscape architecture.

About the project

The history of the site of the St-Michel Environmental Complex has been marked by change and evolution. Since its beginning as a mining center, then as a dumping site, human intervention has taken a severe toll on the land’s topography and symbolism within the city. This location is now destined to become one of Montreal’s biggest parks with a focus on the environment and ecological restoration.

On the site of the former Miron quarry and a future ecological park, the new indoor soccer stadium emerges from the park’s artificial topography as a layer of mineral stratum recalling the geological nature of the site. The mineral stratum is articulated by a continuous roof, which cantilevers over the entry plaza and folds down over the interior soccer field and extends to the ground to become the spectator seating for the outdoor field.

Conceived as a single formal gesture in cross-laminated timber, the roof is the only one of its kind in the world and is composed at 90% of black spruce sourced locally. The structural grid forms a layered mesh, which appears to be random at first sight but becomes denser in zones where added structural strength is needed.

Along Papineau Avenue, the architecture adapts to the existing landscape by embedding its supporting functions within the berm. This integration accommodates an elevated pedestrian path as well as preserves the existing trees. A series of crystals emerge from the augmented landscape to provide daylight and views for the administrative and public spaces behind. They project out from the landscape toward the street to receive abundant natural light. A large crystal box which contains the main lobby emerges from the terrain’s southeast end, signalling the entrance of the soccer centre. The programmatic elements are organized efficiently by taking advantage of the linearity of the site, as well as considering the program associations and usages of players, spectators and park visitors. Despite the broad scope of the project’s program, these luminous elements and the preserved vegetation give the architecture a critical human scale that respects the residential neighbourhood it faces and promotes a sense of openness.

Data Sheet

Project Name: Stade de soccer de Montréal

Location: Saint–Michel Environmental Complex, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Client: City of Montreal

Area: 12 600 m2 / 135 625 square feet

Completion Year: Completed in April 2015
LEED Target: LEED Gold

Architects: Saucier+Perrotte architectes / Hcma

Team: Gilles Saucier (Lead Design Architect), André Perrotte (Principal-in-Charge), Darryl Condon, Trevor Davies, Michael Henderson, Lia Ruccolo, Patrice Bégin, Charles-Alexandre Dubois, Leslie Lok, David Moreaux, Yutaro Minagawa, Vedanta Balbahadur, Marc-André Tratch, Nick Worth. 

Structure and Civil: NCK Inc.

Mechanical and Electrical: Bouthillette Parizeau

Wood Structure: Nordic Structures

LEED Consultant: Synairgis

Landscape: WAA Inc.

Photographic Credits: Olivier Blouin

Images Credits: Saucier + Perrotte architectes / Hcma 

About Saucier + Perrotte architectes

Founded in 1988 by Gilles Saucier and André Perrotte, Saucier + Perrotte architectes is a multidisciplinary practice internationally renowned for its institutional, cultural, and residential projects. The firm represented Canada at the prestigious Architecture Biennale of Venice in 2004, and has been honoured with numerous awards, including 8 Governor General’s Medals and Awards in architecture from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, three P/A Progressive Architecture honours, and two International Architecture Awards (presented by the Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies). Saucier + Perrotte’s highly acclaimed buildings have been published all over the world, reflecting the office’s status as one of Canada’s premier design firms.  The office continues to add to its significant body of built work in Canada, to expand its international portfolio of work abroad, and in 2009, Saucier + Perrotte received the RAIC Award of Excellence for Best Architectural Firm in Canada. More recently, in the fall of 2014, Gilles Saucier and André Perrotte were the first recipients of the new Prix du Québec, the Prix Ernest-Cormier, presented by Quebec’s Minister of Culture and Communications. This prize is Quebec’s highest distinction awarded to a person for his body of work and his career in the field of architecture and design.