When Sid Lee Architecture designed a new building for the Montréal-Ouest train station, it wanted to avoid designing a generic station. The building, due to be completed in the fall of 2023, draws inspiration from elements of the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough to anchor itself in its environment.
The new construction is located on a former wasteland that bordered the tracks of the Montreal West station, one of the busiest in the exo transport network. The mandate was therefore to secure the area by building a building on Sherbrooke Street West that could be connected to the station platforms, and to the old building, via a tunnel.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Jean Pelland, architect and principal partner of Sid Lee Architecture
Our job is to take a practical order and make an element that contributes to the environment in which it will be inserted.
Jean Pelland, architect and principal partner of Sid Lee Architecture
The project particularly excited him. “The train is a bit of a dream,” admits the architect, “and the train’s close relative is its station, and there is always an imaginary world that comes with that.” We first think of European stations, which are a real eye-catcher, he says, but here, the architectural firm wanted to celebrate this means of transport by adapting to its environment.
The red roof, a visual marker
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PHOTO DAVID BOYER, PROVIDED BY SID LEE ARCHITECTURE
The red zinc roof was made using the Canadian roofing technique.
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PHOTO DAVID BOYER, PROVIDED BY SID LEE ARCHITECTURE
The roof was cut to maximize the amount of natural light into the building.
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The main visual element of the building is its roof. Made of zinc treated with a reddish tint, the double-sloped roof is a nod to the surrounding houses and the old red-brick train station. It also recalls the simplified and familiar form of a shelter.
PHOTO DAVID BOYER, PROVIDED BY SID LEE ARCHITECTURE
The double-pitched roof evokes the familiar shape of a shelter.
“The roof protrudes to create protection zones and we cut it so that natural light can enter,” says Jean Pelland. The architectural firm turned to the technique of a Canadian roof, which can be seen above and even below the roof, as a reminder of ancestral know-how.
PHOTO DAVID BOYER, PROVIDED BY SID LEE ARCHITECTURE
The building consists essentially of a glass box, topped with a roof.
It’s an ultra-simple building, it’s just a roof placed on a glass building. During the day, you can see the reflections of the buildings around you and at night, it becomes a small light box.
Jean Pelland, architect and principal partner of Sid Lee Architecture
The glass building helps create a sense of security among users. The firm also designed a wide tunnel to reinforce this sense of security.
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PHOTO DAVID BOYER, PROVIDED BY SID LEE ARCHITECTURE
The suspended work was created by Philippe Allard. “It’s like a chandelier, an element that builds on the idea that there are several levels, it complemented the architecture well,” says Jean Pelland.
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PHOTO DAVID BOYER, PROVIDED BY SID LEE ARCHITECTURE
The central concrete core recalls the aesthetics of metro stations.
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PHOTO DAVID BOYER, PROVIDED BY SID LEE ARCHITECTURE
The central concrete core recalls the aesthetics of metro stations.
PHOTO DAVID BOYER, PROVIDED BY SID LEE ARCHITECTURE
The suspended work was created by Philippe Allard. “It’s like a chandelier, an element that builds on the idea that there are several levels, it complemented the architecture well,” says Jean Pelland.
The interior of the building is no exception. A concrete column, which will soon house an elevator, serves as the backbone of the building and accompanies the staircase that descends toward the tunnel. Herringbone patterns have been traced in the concrete, recalling the folded element of the roof. A suspended work by Montreal artist Philippe Allard highlights and magnifies the play of depth in the building, which borrows from the aesthetics of the Montreal metro.
Well established
When you enter the building, you feel like you are on an island, surrounded by vegetation. Sid Lee Architecture preferred to make a slightly smaller construction to keep the mature trees already present on the land. The building therefore gives the impression of having been established on this strip of land for a long time.
PHOTO DAVID BOYER, PROVIDED BY SID LEE ARCHITECTURE
The place where the building was built, lined with mature trees, was “a playground that had to be clearly defined and used well,” explains Jean Pelland.
The main objective of the project was to put commuter train users first. “It’s in the little details that people feel that this is a place they can use,” explains Jean Pelland. In this way, the place becomes not only a transit point, but a place of belonging for people in the neighbourhood. By betting on simplicity and drawing inspiration from the surrounding buildings, the firm wanted to offer a building that fits its environment.