Agrandissement et restauration de l'Hôtel de ville de Baie d'Urfé

Discipline : Architecture

Categories : Institutional, Civic & Education Building / Government & Civic Building : Gold certification

Categories : Special Award / Adaptive Reuse, Salvage & Heritage : Gold certification

Expansion and restoration of the Town Hall of Baie-D’Urfé

In 1913, the Maxwell brothers—prominent architects of Edwardian Montreal, notably responsible for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts—transformed a farmhouse in the western part of the Island of Montreal to accommodate the Baie-D’Urfé Town Hall. Today, it remains one of the oldest town halls in continuous use in Quebec and stands as a civic landmark deeply embedded in the community’s identity. Over the course of the 20th century, however, municipal growth and evolving administrative needs prompted a reassessment of the farmhouse’s role as a civic hub, ultimately leading to the initiation of a restoration and expansion project.

Affleck de la Riva Architects were commissioned to lead this reflection on the building’s future, where the careful balance between heritage conservation, contemporary expansion, and the enhancement of a culturally significant landscape became central. The project involved the restoration of the historic architecture alongside the reconfiguration of the council chamber to its original layout, allowing municipal assemblies to return to Town Hall.

The expansion draws directly from the architectural language of the Maxwell brothers, taking shape beneath a second mansard roof—a picturesque gesture frequently employed in their residential work. Without resorting to mimicry or stark contrast, the new volume extends the residential scale of the original structure, establishing a measured dialogue between old and new through axial symmetry. Just as the Maxwells’ original intervention allowed the farmhouse to assert its civic presence, the addition addresses the lakefront, reinforcing the building’s relationship with the exceptional landscape of Baie-D’Urfé.

The project in images