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YUL centre-ville
By : Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 16th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Residential Building / Apartment & Condo ≥ 10 storeys : Platinum Winner
Categories : Special Award / Architecture + Landscape : Gold Certification
The YUL centre-ville is a bold architectural proposal, unique in downtown Montreal, and perfectly integrated into the urban fabric. Placing the human being at the heart of the approach, this project offers residents and the neighbourhood an environment in which architectural quality rhymes with quality of life. This residential development stands out for the openness of its spaces, their luminosity, their refined layout, as well as the access it provides to the cultural life of the city and the dynamism of its business district. The complex also offers breathtaking views of the city, the Saint-Lawrence River, and Mount Royal, as well as a splendid garden in the centre, like a vast green oasis in the city.
Part of the much-publicized and long-awaited development of the Overdale block, a space that had been left vacant for more than 25 years, this residential complex of nearly 110,000 m2 is composed of 17 townhouses, two 38-storey towers (855 condominiums), common spaces, a six-storey basilar which houses, among other things, commercial spaces, a 2,100 m2 interior garden and an underground parking garage. The project also includes the rehabilitation of the Maison Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine, a major restoration that affirms the importance of the heritage building on this site and in the city.
A Custom-Made Living Environment
A Vertical Community Downtown
People who choose to live in the city and opt for condominiums want to develop and maintain a sense of community in the building, to complement the one they find at the city level. To achieve this, a residential project like YUL offers open, friendly, multi-generational and flexible spaces where residents can meet, mingle and bond.
Indeed, the desire to nurture a sense of \ »vertical community\ » has guided the design of the YUL in various ways. First, the garden, the largest private garden in the downtown area, was defined as the unifying element of the whole: inspired by typical Quebec winter landscapes, reminiscent of the snow blown by the wind, the reliefs, paths, and meeting places establish the connection between the different spaces as well as between the different scales.
Secondly, the common spaces, including an indoor pool, a gym, a sauna and commercial spaces, rely on natural light, transparency and a contemporary aesthetic to contribute to social life. Finally, the townhouses, basilar, and materials allow the project to be in perfect harmony with the life of the neighbourhood. The YUL community is therefore not isolated. On the contrary, it \ »belongs\ » to the city.
YUL is a residential project that promotes typical downtown densification. The towers harmonize with the scale of René-Levesque Boulevard, while the townhouses and the Maison Louis-H.-La Fontaine are adapted to the more intimate, domestic scale of the Victorian houses on Overdale Street. The project\’s singular identity makes it stand out in the downtown landscape: the twin towers, composed of four superimposed volumes that give movement to the building and a unique envelope combining clear glass and white aluminum, give it a distinctive silhouette.
Collaboration
Architect : Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes
Architect : Stefano Domenici architecte
