Sid Lee Transforms Montreal's Place Ville Marie - Azure Magazine

Sid Lee Transforms Montreal’s Place Ville Marie – Azure Magazine

Planted in the heart of downtown Montreal, Position Ville Marie is a mid-century icon. Developed by I.M. Pei and completed in 1962, the commercial hub is an emblem of the International Type. Together with a 47-storey economical tower, an elevated public plaza is developed atop underground retail that kinds component of the metropolis’s expansive underground metropolis. As component of an ongoing re-invention of the complicated, structure firm and innovative agency Sid Lee have transformed a previous bank hall into their own dynamic new workspace.

Located under Area Ville Marie’s pedestrian plaza, the 7,300-square-metre business office is a semi-subterranean space that spans a adjust in elevation between two downtown streets. With an expansive skylight as the only supply of purely natural illumination, the architects took on the problem of building a mild-loaded, up to date place of work when honouring the plaza’s modernist bones.

Sid Lee Architecture Office Biosquare in Montreal architecture exterior

To make the most of an unconventional room, the designers opted for a easy however dynamic structure that attracts natural gentle from over deep into the multi-stage workspace. Nicknamed the “Biosquare,” a white grid-like construction of staircases —and communal seating — is woven by way of the coronary heart of the space. Accented by lush greenery, the light finishes and open up structure make an airy, energetic ambiance in what could or else be an enclosed, underground area.

Sid Lee Architecture Biosquare office space interior

Sid Lee revitalized the interior whilst preserving considerably of the existing infrastructure. For illustration, peeling back the carpet discovered travertine flooring — which was restored to honour the first inside. Meanwhile, the skylights had been equally stripped and enlarged in buy to brighten the house with as a great deal purely natural lighting as feasible.

Downtown Montreal Place Ville Marie office interior

Re-interpreted as social spaces, the stairs that weave via the area blur the difference from one particular degree to the next, fostering a unified ambiance inside. The unconventional format also presents occupants overall flexibility to locate new and ingenious means to utilize their environment. With no cubicles or assigned places of work, Sid Lee personnel can decide on their very own doing work environment — regardless of whether that’s a regular desk, a larger sized shared table, a couch or a café table.

Downtown Montreal Place Ville Marie office meeting room with black interior and bright lights

To distinction with the vivid white operating stations, meeting rooms get on a stark stark black ambiance, developing relaxed and immersive environments independent from the communal spaces. In lieu of compensating for the deficiency of windows in meeting rooms and personal areas — including the bathrooms — the designers opted to emphasize the darkness with a luxe, moody ambiance.

Office meeting room with black interior and black marble table

As Sid Lee co-founder Philippe Meunier places it, the challenge is an exercising in bringing the firm’s “entrepreneurial spirit to downtown Montreal and creating an available collaborative hub for the city’s creative and organization communities.”

Place Ville Marie interior office space with white framing

The new workspace also forms portion of a more substantial transformation of Place Ville Marie and its surroundings – all led by Sid Lee. Together with a comprehensive renovation of the neighbouring Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Resort, the designers have also sensitively re-formed the plaza that surrounds the business, introducing new plant lifetime and greenery though reworking a parking garage entrance into a public staircase and promenade. As a result of the drastic transformation, the general public square has witnessed a spike in pedestrian exercise, introducing a pleasant new vitality to what stays a handsome modernist showpiece.

Leave a Reply