The project deals with
the complexity of repairing the urban fabric of an old mixed-use industrial
neighbourhood. It is located at the crossroads of major public transportation
links (a Métro station and an interurban train terminus); a commercial
sports complex (Centre Molson); and a residential neighbourhood on one
side (West) with Montréal’s central business district on the other
(East). The goal is to incorporate ecological design into an urban
site that harmonises the relationships between the above factors.
The building
consists of two concrete underground parking levels for sixty cars; three
above ground levels of rammed earth
and heavy timber construction with concrete
floors; and an additional two floors of primarily heavy timber structure
and concrete floors. There will be roof
terraces for usable roof space with the remaining roof covered in sod.
The ecohotel is specifically interiorised around a central courtyard in
order to isolate it from the excessive noises generated from the interurban
train locomotives and special event traffic at the Centre Molson.
The interiorisation
illustrates the concept of ‘discovery’ as it applies to the entire project.
The experiential discovery is related to pedestrians either leaving the
métro station or entering the interior passage to discover the textured
rammed
earth walls, heavy engineered wood
columns, natural daylight, and a view
of the interior garden. Hotel guests enter the hotel through a rammed
earth wall at the ground level and then ascend to the light of the rez-de-chaussée
to discover a view of the interior garden. The project itself was
an ecological design discovery that incorporates the use of natural daylighting,
passive solar gain and blocking (brise-soleil),
thermal mass, the planted roof, cross
ventilation through single-loaded corridors, the micro-climate of the interior
courtyard, and an environmental choice of materials.
Finally, the third level of discovery was the process of repairing the
fabric of a neighbourhood with a project that connects transit links via
an enjoyable interior passage; small commerces, a hotel, a sports complex,
and a residential neighbourhood at a single node of activity that should
help encourage renewal in the rest of the area.