Energizing a city with nature-as-playground approaches to park space
Creating renewed and regreened space for community in the heart of a dense urban neighbourhood, this dynamic environment combines play and leisure with a four-season design. Designed with characteristically Montreal areas, the park is as rich with opportunities for open-air company in the summer as it is for free-flowing and brisk activities for the winter.
Creating an anchor for daily life in the borough of Plateau-Mont-Royal, the Parc des Compagnons-de-Saint-Laurent is centred around health and wellness. Universally accessible with a nature-as-playground approach, the park combines play areas reimagined with hebertist pathways for children and families with game and splash pad installations, plus fitness areas for adults. These established areas include malleable, carte blanche space for socializing and activations as well, such as a summer toy library decorated by local illustrator Théo Le Roux, Christmas markets and outdoor cinemas. As the seasons shift, children can turn from slides and swings to dedicated tobogganing areas when snow coats the ground.
As the park’s topography of semi-shaded terrace areas for rest and relaxation form its core, the entirety of the park is surrounded by a green border of trees both indigenous and bearing flowers and fruit. These natural and cyclical features have fed back into its design, where features such as the park’s splash pad’s water is in turn collected and redistributed to irrigate the park’s greenery to avoid waste.
Now an active and inclusive four-season destination created via community engagement, the Parc des Compagnons-de-Saint-Laurent takes a forward-looking approach to play with a concept and programming focused on social harmony and calming landscapes.
