Page 87 - Designing Ways 254

Îlot Balmoral En-

ergises Montreal’s

Creative Economy as

a New Addition to

Downtown Skyline

Montréal, Canada

he Îlot Balmoral, a 13-storey mixed-use office building
commissioned by the Société d’Habitation de Montréal
T(SHDM), rises as a testimony to Montréal’s creative economy.
One of the final major developmental pieces of the ‘Quartier des
Spectacles’ in downtown Montréal, the impressive structure sits
adjacent to Place des Festivals, and is the new home of the National
Film Board of Canada (NFB) and UQAC’s École des arts numériques,
de l'animation et du design (NAD School).

“We proposed four visions of what an office building specifically
designed for a cultural economy could look like, and Îlot Balmoral
was selected to echo the very vibrant, dynamic nature of the
district,” explains architect Claude Provencher, founding partner at
Provencher_Roy. “The Quartier des Spectacles is a cultural centre
of activity that is now almost complete in its revitalisation and
transformation of the urban fabric surrounding Place des Arts.”

An architectural symbol of creativity
On the surface, Îlot Balmoral is a highly dynamic structure rising
up from the urban fabric. The almost perfect cube is very clean and
slick, and is wrapped in exterior glass that was carefully selected for
its white frit pattern and translucent panels. The smooth and seamless
exterior positions the façade as a potential giant screen against which
projections of Quartier des Spectacles initiatives can be presented.

dw • Issue 254 87