PHOTOS: McGill College Avenue is getting a major makeover

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has just announced the winners of a new design competition for the reinvention of McGill College Avenue, a conceptual attempt to bridge Place Ville Marie and the mountain. The International Multidisciplinary Urban Design Competition was won by a team headed by civiliti + Mandaworks and SNC Lavalin, and aims to “bring nature to the heart of downtown.” The project aspires to be great for families as well as people who work downtown, and will include water and forestation, in commitment with the city’s goal of increasing its tree canopy.

“Part woodland, part plaza, the sillon (“furrow”) delineates clearings and passageways, spaces of comfort and ‘living rooms.’ A long bench/border unfurls over the length of the wooded beaches, linking and unifying all of the public spaces in one grand gesture. […] The Avenue Reinvented is a groove, ‘living rooms’ and a celebration of the seasons; it is water and nature in an authentic, diversified urban environment; it is the encounter of the formal and the informal for the pleasure of experiencing Montréal.”

–Excerpts from the text of the winning presentation

The development of the plans for McGill College: An Avenue Reinvented will take place in 2021-2022 and the project will be completed in 2023-2024. Check out the photos and video announcement by Mayor Plante in the posts below.

On connait enfin l’équipe lauréate du concours international de design pour la future place McGill College! Je suis éblouie par la qualité du projet retenu et je suis convaincue que les Montréalais·es vont se l'approprier. https://t.co/vor0kjYuYH #polmtl pic.twitter.com/XGR3rwoNft

— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) October 15, 2020

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✨J'avais hâte de vous dévoiler ce projet. Voici l’équipe lauréate du concours international de design pour le réaménagement de la future place McGill College. Ce sera vert, agréable pour les familles et les travailleurs du centre-ville qui vont se l’approprier. Avec ses perspectives incroyables sur le mont Royal, la place deviendra une icône du paysage de notre ville. Ce sera tout simplement magnifique! – – Bravo aux lauréats : @civiliti_montreal @mandaworks et SNC Lavalin ???? – – #mtl #montreal #mtlmoments #mtldesign #designmtl

A post shared by Valérie Plante (@val_plante) on Oct 15, 2020 at 3:59pm PDT

The International Multidisciplinary Urban Design Competition was won by civiliti + Mandaworks and SNC Lavalin, in collaboration with Lasalle-NHC, UDO Design, Biodiversité Conseil, Lamontagne Consultants and EVOQ.

For more on McGill College: An Avenue Reinvented, please visit Design Montreal.

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