Real estate developers called on the artist Marc Séguin to design the facades of a new rental building of around twenty floors which will see the light of day along the Lachine Canal.
Located on rue de la Commune Ouest, near boulevard Robert-Bourrassa, the Haleco real estate project will include 327 rental units including 66 affordable housing units and 40 social housing units with, on the ground floor, commercial spaces as well as retail spaces. offices.
Led by Ivanhoé Cambridge, Pomerleau and Cogir Immobilier and designed by the team of architects formed by ACDF and L’OeUF ARCHITEC, the project won the Reinventing Cities competition of the C40 cities network which brings together cities invested in the fight against climate change. The land on which the project was built is a former road yard that the City ceded to developers. The project aims for LEED Platinum certification with a lower carbon footprint than a conventional building.
With the aim of making it a signature project, the developers approached the artist Marc Séguin who signed the facades of the building under construction. On the lower floors, the artist illustrated a she-wolf, symbol of the “community rooted in all civilizations since antiquity”. On the facade of the building which will face the city center, a blue circle will appear on a black background. The same white circle, on a blue background, will be drawn on the opposite facade and will be visible to motorists using Robert-Bourassa Boulevard as well as cyclists traveling along the Lachine Canal.
“It’s more than a real estate project. It is also a new visual signature for the city of Montreal for the people who will enter this side of the city,” argued Mayor Valérie Plante who participated in the unveiling of the project on Tuesday.
Half of the surface area of the land will be planted and the courtyard thus landscaped will be accessible to the general public and will include community gardens.
As for social housing, it will not be built in the main building, but in an adjacent building with a separate entrance. “This project is inspired by projects we see elsewhere. I am thinking of the Confluence district in Lyon where we create complexes with different types of housing, but we are not able to tell the difference. […] When we do social housing, affordable housing and private housing and we share common spaces, diversity occurs,” indicated Mayor Plante.
Construction work on the Haleco project is expected to be completed in summer 2024.