Esplanade du Palais des Congrès de Montréal
Esplanade du Palais des Congrès de Montréal
Montréal (Québec), Canada

Public square atop the Palais des congrès parking garage

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.

Client
Palais des congrès de Montréal, Société immobilière du Québec

Area
2000 m2 (0.5 acre)

Awards

2007
Regional Honour – Canadian Society of Landscape Architects

Year
1999-2002

Status
Built

Categories
Institutional
Plaza / Garden
Guillaume Paradis, CC+A, 2014
Icon Spring, http://kaigan.civil.tohoku.ac.jp/~sawamoto/Aobayama3/kaidou.jpg

Icon Summer, http://www.netikka.net/matti.nyberg/Malus.JPG

Icon Autumn, http://www.yunphoto.net/jpeg/yun_1577.jpg
Perspective, Alain Carle, 1999
Plan, CC+A, 1999

Guillaume Paradis, CC+A, 2014
Guillaume Paradis, CC+A, 2014
Photo, 2018 - Raphaël Thibodeau
Guillaume Paradis, CC+A, 2014
Photo, 2018 - Raphaël Thibodeau
Guillaume Paradis, CC+A, 2014
Guillaume Paradis, CC+A, 2014
Photo, 2018 - Raphaël Thibodeau
Photo, 2018 - Raphaël Thibodeau
Photo, 2018 - Raphaël Thibodeau
Jean-François Vézina, 2005

Jean-François Vézina, 2005
Jean-François Vézina, 2005
Jean-François Vézina, 2005
Jean-François Vézina, 2005
Jean-François Vézina, 2005
Jean-François Vézina, 2005
Process, CC+A, 1999
Jean-François Vézina, 2003
Photo, 2018 - Raphaël Thibodeau