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Snowdon Theater
By : ADHOC architectes
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Residential Building / Apartment & Condo of 5 to 9 storeys : Bronze Certification
Categories : Special Award / Architecture + Heritage Enhancement : Silver Certification
Categories : Special Award / Building Conversion & Adaptive Reuse : Silver Certification
Born in 1937 in the wake of an unprecedented economic crisis, Snowdon Cinema marked the return of the seventh art to Montreal, offering an escape and leisure activity that residents had not enjoyed for many years. For nearly 50 years, and through some of the greatest cinematic masterpieces of the 20th century, this Art Deco-style cinema designed by Daniel John Crighton and adorned by Emmanuel Briffa was the main witness to the awe-inspired gazes, tears, and hearty laughter of a faithful and ever-growing audience. After hosting its final screening in 1982, it became a shopping center and then a gym, until its permanent closure and abandonment. The cinema that introduced Chaplin to Montrealers was even set ablaze in 2016 and narrowly escaped destruction after being acquired by the city. Thrust back into the spotlight, the Snowdon Theatre is given a second life by welcoming a decidedly contemporary audience, now offering around sixty residential units.
For the architects, the main challenge was to preserve the identity of this octogenarian that had traversed so many eras, while drastically changing its use, adapting its previously hermetic envelope, and opening it up to the outside, thereby creating bright, pleasant living spaces. Working with the concept of cinema involves designing a building as a self-contained spectacle. By day, like a reflective screen, the expansion mirrors the tireless urban ballet. It presents itself to the viewer and gleams with the sky. Simple and light, this addition, suspended above the Snowdon Theatre, stages it rather than casting shade upon it. By night, its transparent skin offers a completely different character; like the lifting of a grand curtain, the building opens onto the city and illuminates mysterious and evanescent domestic scenes. The building, now transformed into light, acts as a beacon on Décarie, recalling its glorious past and brilliant future.
Playing on a true duality between an imposing historical envelope and a new contemporary volume, the project creates a temporal bridge that combines the charm of heritage with the hope of the future, in a present respectful of its context. There is a temporal duality, certainly, but also a spatial one, as it was necessary to implant and adapt to the urban fabric. Indeed, on the garden side, there reigns a tranquility bathed in nature, with verdant horizons and a sublime view of Mount Royal and Saint Joseph’s Oratory, while on the courtyard side lies a more active and bustling living area with its traffic (Décarie highway), shops, and restaurants. To create a harmonious dialogue, a judicious use of materials was fundamental, especially in terms of acoustics where it was necessary to respond to the constraints of the constantly evolving urban context.
In a heritage-minded approach, the Art Deco facade has been completely restored, bringing back the original components. The insulation of the existing masonry walls and plaster is ensured by efficient blowing applied to all retained existing walls. Special attention was paid to the most characteristic elements of the Theatre: the marquee, the Theatre Snowdon sign, and the three horizontal black bands, all preserved and restored identically. A subtle dialogue with the newer, more contemporary volume is established between these two architectures from different eras.
This strong connection between the concerns of our time and the magic of the past has continued to guide the project. Thanks to the restoration of the Snowdon Theatre – a monument of popular memory, a temple of first sweet and awkward kisses, and a rainy family meeting place – an iconic building in Montreal rises from the flames and oblivion, offering its residents a true slice of its history.
Collaboration
Real Estate Developer : Omnia Technologies
Manufacturer - Distributor : Enseignes Landreville
