Place de l'avenue McGill College: An iconic street

The Avenue McGill College plaza development project is scheduled to begin once the work on the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) is completed at this location. Based on the current REM schedule, the city will start work on the plaza in 2025.

It is a great source of pride for Montréal to announce that Valérie Blass, a renowned Montréal-born visual artist and sculptor has been selected to create a work of art to be displayed in Montréal’s downtown core. This public art project is part of the Avenue McGill College redevelopment project.

Her work, temporarily titled “L’ami des ruines”, evokes the idea of creating anthropomorphic shapes reminiscent of both ruins and rock formations through which an opening can foster soil, mushrooms and plants. Exploring the idea that nature can pierce through urban centres, the artists seeks to implement artistic elements that are both timeless and malleable in time, as they are exposed to human and natural transformation.

Her artistic approach will propose unique experiences for the public to enjoy, inviting passersby to explore and rediscover the redeveloped Avenue McGill College. As such, expanding the cultural offering is an integral part of the project for the revitalization of the downtown core.

L'ami des ruines will be the artist’s first public art work for the city, as well as her first permanent installation resulting from a competition.

Valérie Blass will be invited to realize her work in collaboration with the project consultants, with the city’s Service de l’urbanisme et de la mobilité (SUM) and the Bureau d’art public. Including an artist in the design team in order to develop a piece that can integrate the Avenue McGill College redevelopment project is an innovative idea for Montréal.

Announcement of winning projects for January 2023 by the Bureau d’art public de Montréal

The memory and exceptional contribution of Montréal jazz musician and composer Oscar-Peterson will be honoured by naming a public square after him in the heart of downtown. Part of the Avenue McGill College redevelopment project, this square will pay tribute to this great Montréal ambassador and internationally renowned artist, who died in 2007.

A square rich in experiences
Located in the central area of Avenue McGill College, between Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest and Boulevard De Maisonneuve Ouest, Place Oscar-Peterson will host a figurative work of public art and installations that will offer sensory, contemplative and immersive experiences.

Future artworks in Place Oscar-Peterson will be chosen by competitions. The first competition will be launched this fall for the immersive work, and another competition will be held in 2022 for the commemorative and figurative work. The competition rules will be announced at a later date.

Celebrating the contribution of a homegrown giant
This tribute highlights the cultural and social importance of this piano virtuoso, which is still widely recognized almost 15 years after his death. Born in 1924 in Le Sud-Ouest, Oscar Peterson contributed to Montréal’s image as a world-class cultural centre. He was also a major actor in the fight against racial inequalities.

Place de l’avenue McGill College
Place Oscar-Peterson is part of the redevelopment of Place McGill College. In October 2020, the team formed by civiliti + Mandaworks and SNC-Lavalin won the international multidisciplinary urban design competition for the redevelopment of the new Place de l’avenue McGill College. The winning team has been commissioned to carry out the detailed design of the section between Rue Cathcart and Boulevard De Maisonneuve. The final design concept will soon be announced.

The avenue will become a grand and impressive public pedestrian square along its entire length, from Rue Cathcart to Rue Sherbrooke. The new design will transform the pedestrian experience within a natural landscape in the downtown core.

*Perspective : View from the west side of the plaza from McGill College Avenue to Place Oscar Peterson with Place Ville Marie in the background.
Source: civiliti + Mandaworks and SNC-Lavalin

The “McGill College: Reinventing the Avenue” project has made its mark once again! Just a few months after it received an honourable mention in the World Landscape Architecture Awards, the project was named a Gold Winner in the 14th annual Grands Prix du Design.

The project stood out because it significantly increased the city’s tree canopy, celebrating the return of biodiversity to downtown, as well as its concept that frees the avenue’s visual corridor towards Mount Royal, making it a perfect place to wander along and stop off at spaces that celebrate the changing seasons.

As a Gold Winner, the McGill College project is eligible to become a Grand Prize winner at the gala evening, which will be held September 18 in Quebec City.

This visionary project, which was designed by the civiliti, Mandaworks and SNC-Lavalin firms, proposes plant diversity in order to promote ecosystems and offer a varied landscape that regenerates the soil and enriches biodiversity.

In addition to site vegetation, one of the strong elements of the project consists of channeling rainwater and melted snow along a long path that leads to a water garden at the extreme south end of the site. “Le Grand Foyer,” which can be used as an agora or a retention basin, is perfect for a wide range of activities all through the year. It features a fire ring where passersby can stop and warm up during the brutal winter months.

Congratulations to the project designers!

*The GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN celebrate the work of designers who aim to improve quality of life and built heritage both for us and for their public and private clients who put their trust in them.

The firms civiliti + Mandaworks (Sweden) and SNC-Lavalin have been named the winners of the multidisciplinary international urban design competition for the development of the new Place de l'avenue McGill College. The project was completed in collaboration with Lasalle-NHC, UDO Design, Biodiversité Conseil, Lamontagne Consultants and ÉVOQ, and the jury selected it from a field of five finalists. The proposal retained is inspiring and steeped in the spirit of the place, pairing urbanity, history and biodiversity to offer a transformed pedestrian experience.

The winning concept will make it possible to experience downtown differently while heightening Montréal’s profile. With the redevelopment of Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest and such iconic places as Square Phillips, the city’s downtown will soon be greener and more pleasant, resilient and human.

Taking residents’ aspiration into consideration

It’s worth reiterating that the project to transform Avenue McGill College was subject to a vast consultation led by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) and a positioning exercise involving more than 1,000 people. Out of this process a vision emerged, one that reflects the needs and aspirations of the city‘s residents.

Using this vision as a point of departure, the winning concept called for the creation of a large green strip, which will become the distinctive element in this imposing new public space. It will offer unique seasonal experiences, along with pedestrian and discovery paths on different scales between McGill University and the large staircase at Place Ville-Marie, with an open view of Mount Royal.

The new development also calls for an intensive greening effort and the integration of spaces conducive to contemplation and relaxation so that Montrealers can appropriate the space year-round.

The development project’s final concept will be unveiled in 2021, and work operations should start in 2023.

Please view the Bureau du design de la Ville de Montréal Web site for complete details on the competition.

Throughout the planning process for the Avenue McGill College modernization project, the city and its partners consulted with citizens and considered their questions and expectations. This participatory design approach is now a finalist for the Mérite Ovation municipale 2020 award from the Union des municipalités du Québec. The project was nominated in the “municipal administration” category for its creativity. Fingers crossed!

Find out all about the award

The municipal administration is pleased to announce that it has launched a Multidisciplinary Urban Design Competition for the redevelopment of Avenue McGill College into a public square.

Located in the heart of downtown Montréal, in an area experiencing rapid growth thanks to the redevelopment of Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, the city’s largest commercial thoroughfare, and to the arrival of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM), the Avenue McGill College square is aimed at offering Montrealers a new public space worthy of the 21^st century.

The city wishes to transform this iconic avenue, which spans an area of 16,000 square metres, into a relaxing, people-friendly space where nature flourishes between two Montréal landmarks, from Mount Royal to Place Ville Marie.

For further information about the competition, click here.

The press release on the subject.

On March 23, seven teams of architecture, urban planning and civil engineering students presented their inspiring vision for the future Avenue McGill College as part of a student charrette (intensive design workshop).

In total, some 30 students from McGill University, Université de Montréal, Université du Québec à Montréal and École de technologie supérieure participated in the student charrette on the redevelopment of Avenue McGill College. Participants had less than 48 hours to develop their projects to redesign Avenue McGill College.

The jury was tied, so two projects were selected: Dunes givrées (Université de Montréal) and Adaptive Breathscape (McGill University). Both winning teams, each in their own way, emphasized green spaces and a multi-purpose design in order to meet the varied needs of neighbourhood residents, workers and visitors. The city awarded them a $1,600 bursary.

The student charrette was part of the vast design process the city has implemented to create the future Avenue McGill College. In the fall of 2018, the city launched the process with a public consultation led by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal.

The university community contributed to the discussion about the future of the McGill College project, an area that has a large amount of student traffic. Winning projects will inspire the functional and technical development program documentation, which will help to orient designers who are participating in the international design competition planned for fall 2019.

Students are sure to be pleased to find a part of themselves in the design of the future Avenue McGill College.