Claude Cormier - Architectes paysagistes
Landscape architects
ESPLANADE OF
THE PALAIS DES CONGRÈS
MONTREAL (QUEBEC), CANADA

ESPLANADE OF
THE PALAIS DES CONGRÈS

MONTREAL (QUEBEC), CANADA

Project
Public square atop the Palais des congrès parking garage		 Client
Palais des congrès de Montréal, Société immobilière du Québec		 Year
1999-2002		 Status
Built
On the boundary between Chinatown, the International Quarter, and Old Montreal, the Esplanade of the Palais des congrès de Montréal serves as a vibrant gathering space for local residents, conference delegates, and tourists alike.

Our biggest challenge for this project: building atop a parking garage without breaking the bank. We transformed the monolithic concrete slab into a generous public garden through a series of vegetation-carpeted earth mounds, each topped by a clutch of crab apple trees, the city’s official tree. Stone borders and meandering paths in Montreal limestone complete the urban oasis, which blooms each May in an explosion of pink and fuchsia hues.

This sensual environment appeals to a broad and diverse audience. Over the course of a day it serves as a place for midday breaks, a site for picnic lunches, a rendezvous point, a plaza for early-morning Tai-chi enthusiasts, and the list goes on.
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Surface
2,000 m2 (0.5 acres)

Prizes

Canadian Society of Landscape Architects
Regional Honour – Esplanade of Palais des congrès, Montreal, Quebec







Credits
1. Jean-François Vézina, May 2005
2. Icon Spring, http://kaigan.civil.tohoku.ac.jp/~sawamoto/Aobayama3/kaidou.jpg
3. Icon Summer, http://www.netikka.net/matti.nyberg/Malus.JPG
4. Icon Autumn, http://www.yunphoto.net/jpeg/yun_1577.jpg
5. Perspective, Alain Carle, 1999
6. Plan, CCAPI, 1999
7. Jean-François Vézina, May 2005
8. Jean-François Vézina, May 2005
9. Jean-François Vézina, May 2005
10. Jean-François Vézina, May 2005
11. Jean-François Vézina, September 2005
12. Jean-François Vézina, September 2005
13. Process, CCAPI, 1999
14. Jean-François Vézina, September 2003