Canoë

Discipline : Construction & Real Estate : Grand Winner

Categories : Real Estate Development / Mixed-Use Development : Platinum Winner

The Canoe project, located at the corner of Hochelaga and Bennett streets, is part of a period of renewal for the Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district.

It is a predominantly residential area with many commercial, public and public transit services. Participating in the growth and development of the borough is the main objective of the project. This participation is achieved by improving the commercial offer of the sector, but especially by including collective spaces that serve all the users of the site and the citizens of the neighbourhood. We believe that the most significant legacy that a project of this nature can offer a community lies in its public services and spaces. 

Like the community in which it is located, Canoe proposes a vision that is committed to its neighborhood. The analysis of the intervention context allows us to propose a project that is integrated into a broader vision of the sector’s development. It is then possible to imagine a structuring project for the district. The strategies that guided the implementation on the site allow for the creation of a variety of outdoor spaces open to the city and other more private spaces. Rather than closing the complex in on itself, we are betting on opening up and connecting the project with the neighborhood and the residents around it. 

Inspired by best practices in pedestrian streets, Allée des Artistes is intended to be a cultural artery ensuring a dialogue between the new development and its neighborhood. This crack in the project aims to increase its resilience by encouraging interactions between the various actors who will be established there. By integrating a diversified commercial offer, a multitude of residential typologies, artists’ studios as well as community spaces, the project is part of a global vision of sharing and circular economy. 

The project aims at a density threshold allowing the implementation of strategies aimed at energy saving, the consolidation of alternative transportation, as well as the optimization and improvement of collective facilities. By progressively concentrating high-rise buildings in the center of the block, we are able to create an urban silhouette that is in keeping with the existing context. Thus, the heights become much less perceptible to the pedestrian and the shading is optimized and managed within the site. 

The project is intended to accommodate approximately 650 condominium units, 200 rental units, 158 social housing units and over 60,000 square feet of miscellaneous commercial space. Ultimately, the project will include 20% community housing, 20% rental housing and a range of affordable family housing. 10% of the site has been set aside for a linear park, while green space and public plazas make up 50% of the total space.

Canoe acts as a catalyst for innovation in terms of density, mixed use, mixed households, and the supply and development of quality green spaces. It is an exemplary project in terms of sustainable development, inspired by the best practices of densification in a context of demographic, climatic and health changes. Much more than a simple residential complex, this project aims to redefine the traditional standards of residential buildings.

The project in images

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Photo credit : Laurier Verdaguer

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See other pictures of the project

Photo credit : Laurier Verdaguer

See other pictures of the project

Photo credit : Laurier Verdaguer