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The harvester : Centre Gadbois
By : APPAREIL Architecture | Leclerc architectes
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Other categories in architecture / Concept & Unbuilt : Gold Certification
The developer, Ville de Montréal, is organizing a multidisciplinary architectural competition for the expansion and renovation of the Gadbois recreation center in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest. Situated near the Lachine Canal and surrounded by Notre-Dame Street, Côte-Saint-Paul Road and Highway 15, the current complex is isolated at ground level from certain neighboring neighborhoods due to the reconstruction of the Turcot interchange. Despite its strategic location at one of the city’s main entrances, it does not enjoy a strong presence in keeping with its importance. The project aims to create an urban landmark to enhance its location.
Our idea, the harvester : an urban signal, a resilient gathering place
The position of the Gadbois center in a hectic sector of the city, marked by major urban infrastructures demands an assertive intervention highlighting this major sports center in Montreal’s west end. In contrast to the viaduct, an impassable barrier, the Gadbois center concentrates the assets of an open, permeable complex. A place that communicates with the community and is identified beyond the « border ». From its resolutely compact and dense, closed and blind architecture emanates the vital need to open up, welcome and bring people together. A place dedicated to young people, a place designed for athletes, a place open to citizens. A real extension of community life. The new center will benefit the surrounding neighborhoods, providing a quality meeting place for the community. It will become a gathering place for neighborhood residents and more broadly for Montrealers; a center focused on culture and well-being for all, conducive to exchanges and becoming a social place created for and with the population. It will be a place for everyone.
A heritage approach; the harvester revealing history
Intervening in a building like the Centre Gadbois requires meticulous selection and choice in order to preserve the essence of quality spaces without diminishing the added value of functional contemporary spaces. The aim was to express and celebrate the architectural quality of the existing building by retaining the essentials, revealing the spaces with character, in particular the volume of the former palestra and its ceramic-covered structure, the swimming pool and its glass roof, and the original southern entrance (domes of light, pilasters). The idea was to highlight the history of the site, the traces of the neighborhood’s industrial past, the major transformations of the 1970s, the Lachine Canal and its redevelopment as a space for social life. It will be an opportunity to clean up the spaces severed by the various interventions to make the site more legible. The restructuring will be an opportunity to relocate the artwork and integrate an original work into the heart of the center.
Highlighting wood in architecture – Biophilia and the decarbonation process
Like other flagship sports facilities in the city of Montreal, the project is an opportunity to showcase the creativity and avant-garde of Quebec’s wood trades, which design buildings all over North America. In addition to providing a comforting living environment for users and using an abundant local raw material, the presence of wood allows us to highlight, not without design challenges, the City of Montreal’s ecological transition towards carbon neutrality. Doubling as an innovative eco-energy solution, the use of wood is in line with the municipality’s desire to be exemplary in the face of its zero emissions target for 2030.
A sponge building – Creative solution for using grey and surface water.
The harvester is a bioclimatic tool: it’s a system designed to collect, store and use water. The challenge is to create a device that can exploit climatic conditions to the benefit of water management. The project is an opportunity to implement a variety of measures to collect, store and redistribute water within the building and in the surrounding park. A space for innovation and learning for all.
Collaboration
