FI3200/Jan 31, 20157 min read
Architecture & sustainable urban design for another downtown revival
Imagine one of the largest green roofs in Canada ; the very first sustainable development public market in Canada ; the only public market directly accessible from the metro ; in the heart of Montreal, for local producers and every Montrealer, le Marché Voyageur du Quartier Latin
The center of town is where everyone comes and goes from everywhere in all directions, from one district to another and from one institution to another. Here we have a natural transit hub in the middle of the city linked to everywhere. It is critical to understand this civic asset and its urban function. Here you have an abandoned lot and building through which transits 10,000 people every week… it is possibly North America’s busiest abandoned building.
The îlot Voyageur lot in the heart of downtown Montreal has caused much controversy in the last decade, and for good reasons. This currently empty lot sits in the very middle of the city and the old Voyageur bus terminal building stands on it abandoned. Remarkably, the abandoned terminal still is a dynamic transportation hub despite the absence of function and tenants. There is a very simple reason for this : the strategically positioned building, connected to the metro transit central station, and to the new Montreal Bus Terminal, is a natural transit hub. It is in fact the îlot voyageur square’s natural civic function, and the continued activity despite the closing of the bus terminal is a convincing demonstration of this. Moreover, through the Berri UQAM metro station, the building connects to every other building in the central district through the underground network. Notably, the very busy National Library (banq), Université du Québec Campus and Place Dupuis. As well, it sits on the corner of De Maisonneuve boul. and Berri streets, 100 m away from Saint-Denis & Sainte-Catherine streets, the city’s busiest commercial strips. The adjacent neighbourhoods, the Village, the Plateau, the Quartier des Spectacles, Old Montreal, Centre-Sud and the Quartier Latin are the city’s busiest and most dynamic districts. No wonder why this abandoned building is still heavily transited despite its state. Also, and most notably, it sees local residents using its corridors as a way to the heart of the Centre-Sud district’s Ontario street from Berri UQAM station, best reached through the îlot Voyageur and its abandoned bus terminal.
Ontario street between Berri and Papineau is the central commercial strip of the Centre-Sud and residents flock to it daily for errands on their way home. This quick study of the surrounding surface and underground network of the îlot Voyageur Square and its abandoned bus terminal building gives us a pretty good idea that this place is still and truly the center of town. Further investigation and evaluation is necessary before we decide what will happen to this square. Changing the natural function of this civic asset may result in urban design failure. We all know this here, we Montrealers know, or knew perhaps… yes, perhaps it is ‘knew’ rather than ‘know’. It seems we have forgotten that this place is truly the center of Montreal, yet it is empty, abandoned and left to street problems.
‘it is like a tumour in the middle of the city, a benign tumour that threatens to become malign…’ — Eric
Drug trafic and prostitution has plagued the Place Émilie Gamelin — just south and adjacent to the îlot Voyageur Square — and its surrounding street corners for decades. In fact, Saint-Hubert Street between René Lévesque and Ontario has become Montreal’s Red Light ; prostitute hang outs, clandestine massage parlors and biker bars are all this Quartier Latin strip has to offer, unfortunately. The Old Voyageur Bus Terminal was partly to blame for this situation as it was the city’s main entrance for American and Canadian tourists, the new bus terminal, a few meters north now, and actually connected to the Old Voyageur terminal, perpetuates a favorable situation for the sex and drugs black market on Saint-Hubert Street. Where it gets interesting and critical for the city of Montreal and its downtown core is when we will determine what will be done with this abandoned carrefour. To us, this foreseen urban design re-development for the abandoned lot is an opportunity for a terrible mistake. In high density urban design the city sees the short term advantage of maximum tax revenu for office and condominium flooring despite the possibility of seeing the real estate market plummet, not to mention the difficulty of persuading companies and residents to set up in a drug and prostitution riddled square. How can Saint-Hubert Street and the Place Emilie Gamelin Square change their fortune if non-commercial and private real-estate is built on the îlot Voyageur lot ? They can’t and they won’t if this is what happens in the choice of urban design for the abandoned lot. More high-rises to cast shadows on the Place Emilie Gamelin and Saint-Hubert Street for thugs to hide and pursue illicit activities will not change the dynamic of this square. More over, an absence of increased or renewed commercial and cultural offer in the square will only help perpetuate this state of Red Light culture. Only attractive cultural and commercial offers will drive masses of consumer trafic, and the Quartier des Spectacles success is the living proof of this — http://affaires.lapresse.ca/economie/immobilier/201501/27/01-4838935-quartier-des-spectacles-des-retombees-de-15-milliard.php
We all remember how rundown and unproductive Sainte-Catherine Street and Saint-Laurent Boulevard had become in the then Red Light ; this has all changed when cultural and commercial attractions where created there. Now businesses and residents flock to the Quartier des Spectacles to set up shop and home. The same needs to be thought out for the îlot Voyageur lot. Technically, the îlot Voyageur is within the Quartier des Spectacles boundaries, at its extreme east end. We @ FI3200/ feel that this empty lot and building needs a strong, inclusive and sustainable urban design development project to recreate the square and transform it into a cultural and commercial hub rather than an office and condominium high-rise park.
We stress and insist on the existing civic assets of the abandoned bus terminal and its lot. It is a natural transit hub and this needs to be exploited for more than just transiting. The plagued area will only be reformed if the square and Saint-Hubert Street finally attract sustainable development in the form of a product and services offer to an increased trafic and public presence. Local residents that are in mass all around and the tourists will take care of the rest if the new attraction is attractive ! The city has made great efforts to promote and produce events @ the Place Emilie Gamelin and this did help somewhat, but we need more. We need a project that will create awe. An avant-garde and culturally attractive project that will create a need stop for pedestrians and locals and a need visit for tourists. Something like this : Marché Voyageur du Quartier Latin — not office flooring. The northern portion of the îlot Voyageur has its condominium project managed by Aquilini & Magil who have bought the rights to the unfinished UQÀM student residence building sitting atop the current new bus terminal. Our project is complementary to Aquilini’s.
We call on the whole community to put an end to the îlot Voyageur saga, lets build a sustainable, green, and intelligent technology market hub for the city ; the building is already there. It will be an urban design development laboratory for revoking existing facilities wrapped around an operating one story inclusive public market on which will be created the city’s largest most spectacular green roof including an sculptural water collecting tower. A green roof that will be an extension to the Place Émilie Gamelin Square. The Marché Voyageur will be an eye catching public attraction that will be seen from everywhere in the Quartier Latin. Connected to the center of the city above and underground, we believe it will become a natural extension to the Quartier des Spectacles and revive the core of the city, giving everyone a chance to participate in the future. We believe it will rehabilitate Saint-Hubert Street and its amazing architecture to a successful commercial and cultural urban strip like it should be ; a crescent street of the east. It is our project and we think it is the next future of the Quartier Latin and downtown Montreal. A visionary urban development project that we are currently mounting with two local urban design and architectural firms. The City of Montreal has other empty lots for building towers. We think the core of the city needs to remain a livable and active commercial carrefour. We are the leaders of this project ; the community is the key player in realizing it.
Marché Voyageur Project
