A spectacular heritage gem of Montreal’s Golden Square Mile
Revitalizing of the original designs of William Titus Thomas’s Mount Stephen Club in downtown Montreal, this redevelopment is a both a preservation and expansion of a 19th century architectural gem inspired by the urban palaces of the Italian Renaissance.
As a provincially and nationally recognized historical monument, architectural inventions at Le Mount Stephen required a balance of veneration and rejuvenation. Repositioning the club for a place in its city’s present-day cultural landscape, the project pivots its well-preserved interiors and private club past into a prestigious 90-room boutique hotel with banquet rooms for up to 500 patrons and new attributes including a modern kitchen, an underground parking lot, and diverse amenities such as a spa and a gym.
To do this, an elegant yet understated volume was integrated into a narrow back plot of vacant land. Inspired by textures and patterns of Le Mount Stephen’s tapestries, lace work and carpets, a precious and luminous object was created with a simplified diamond motif in its façade. Clad in raw materiality, a combination of ceramic frit and clear glass, stainless steel, and concrete with sandblasted finishes comes together to create an anticipatory precipice of modern experiences and comforts. Inside, the hotel’s variety of rooms are expressed through personalities befitting the guests that stay in them, from nimble layouts for economic travelers to long-stay clients lavishing in apartment-style suites.
With this preservation and expansion of Le Mount Stephen into a modern hospitality concept, its presence now speaks to a blend of exciting novelty and time-honored craftsmanship—an iconic quality unifies it with architectural landscape found in the Golden Square Mile and Montreal at large.
