A restored public square celebrating Montreal’s 375th anniversary
Flanked by Montreal’s City Hall and a stately former courthouse, this restoration of Place Vauquelin atop the highest point in Old Montreal is a celebration of its city through design. Coinciding with the Canadian metropolis’ 375th anniversary, its architectural and landscape storytelling bridges the heritage of the past with the modernity of a vibrant downtown core in one connective heart.
A unique lookout with views unfolding onto the bustling Place Jacques-Cartier on one end and the outstretched green of Champ de Mars, the square was a diamond recovered from the rough of a sunken state below street level stifled by overgrown vegetation. Excavated within metres of priceless archeological remains, Place Vauquelin was polished into a place blending noble materials of granite, limestone and stainless steel with nature, its masterplan balances out stately institutional surroundings with a generous and distinguished public space.
Retaining the existing shape and placement of the square as well as its quadri-lobed fountain and pool of smooth edges, the site was adapted to the city’s four-season nordicity with heated surfaces via 10,000 metres of pipes, and made accessible through an integrated ramp and stairs. Equipped with a lighting strategy that would accentuate these key elements, ergonomic urban furniture, bespoke and strategic tree cover for shade, and arrangements of wide granite pavers create a canvas for both lounging and reconnection among locals and a monumental impression for out-of-towners.
Historic yet contemporary, urban yet natural, this social hub is one of intricacies where the simplest of central features—a fountain—captures Montreal as a wellspring of design possibilities.
