Claude Cormier - Architectes paysagistes
Landscape architects
SAINT JAMES CHURCH
MONTREAL (QUEBEC), CANADA

SAINT JAMES CHURCH

MONTREAL (QUEBEC), CANADA

Project
Church parvis
Client
L. M. Sauvé
Year
2004-2006
Status
Built

Constructed in 1889 as the largest Methodist church in the country, Saint James survived the lean years of the depression by building a veil of commercial real estate at its front steps. This concealed its neo-Gothic French façade and completely eliminated its public square facing Sainte-Catherine Street. Eighty years later, the veil has been lifted and the church façade restored, breathing new life into the public square. We installed a wall-to-wall herring bone paving of black granite, forming a dramatic stage floor to complement the theatrical red limestone façade. This graphically stunning pavement gives the church a renewed, bold presence in a dense downtown streetscape.

Surface
900 m2 (0.2 acres)

Prizes

Orange Medal - Sauvons Montréal / Héritage-Montréal
Restauration of St-James Church, Downtown Montreal





Credits

1. Perspective 02, Groupe Cardinal Hardy, October 2005
2. Marc Cramer, October 2007
3. Perspective 02, Groupe Cardinal Hardy, October 2005
4. Plan, CC+A, April 2006
5. Historical photograph, Notman Photographic Archives, McCord Museum, around 1900
6. Marc Cramer, October 2007
7. Perspective 02, Groupe Cardinal Hardy, October 2005