Dedicated to sustainable development and urban renewal since 1983
We create living environments that respect people and the built environment through architecture that is inclusive, meaningful and sustainable, so that the human experience always comes first.
Our approach draws its inspiration from the physical, cultural, geographical, identity, historical and economic constraints, as well as the tangible and intangible heritage, that inhabit each of our intervention sites. We analyse this heritage by studying how it has evolved over time and by identifying its implicit and explicit potential. This enables us to transform each site into a space that serves collective well-being.
Our approach is based on cross-disciplinary thinking linking architecture, urban design and town planning, interior design and landscape. We insist on the importance of the very first stage of the project, that of exploring and analysing all the elements of the contextual problem.
In our studios, we often use scale models as a tool for exploration and research to develop the massing of a project.
This approach contributes to a broader understanding of the issues relating to the development of the site, its urban context, the architectural design of the new building and its functional and physical coexistence with its environment. It establishes the parameters of a framework for intervention to be designed, developed and implemented at subsequent stages, and ensures, from the outset, that the result will live up to expectations.
Sustainability
Sustainable development underpins all our projects, from the design of public spaces to the selection of materials, from energy to climate change mitigation.
CLAUDE BOURBEAU
President, Principal Partner, Architect
OAQ, OAA, FRAIC, LEED AP, BD+C
Claude introduced integrated design to Provencher_Roy’s practice and built a team of architects with expertise in sustainable development that is now one of the most important in Québec, a team that is always thinking ahead about innovative and ecological development approaches.
“I am convinced that sustainable architecture can be a vector of change in society, so I made it the leitmotif of my career. At Provencher_Roy, sustainability is an integral part of all projects, because every little gesture counts.”
GUILLAUME MARTEL
Partner, Architect
OAQ, LEED Fellow, SP ENV
Guillaume Martel has been an integral part of the design and construction team at Provencher_Roy, tasked with developing the sustainability approach of highly complex projects. His “let’s look beyond LEED’’ approach contributed to award winning institutional projects that are highly sustainable, including the first LEED Museum in Québec (the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec); the new Hélène-Desmarais Pavilion at HEC Montréal; and one of the largest deep green retrofits in Canada, Place du Portage 3 in Gatineau. He has been actively involved in the promotion of sustainability in the built environment and especially in regard to the evolution of the LEED rating system with the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC). A frequent public speaker, he has been part of the CAGBC Material & Resources Technical Advisory Group since 2010 and has represented the CAGBC at the 2018 G7 Summit Workshop
CÉLINE MERTENAT
Collaborator, Architect
OAQ, LEED AP, BD+C, SP ENV
Approaching each new project in all its complexity, Céline seeks to unlock the potential for revitalising the natural, urban and social environment to create quality environments that are catalysts for sustainable and resilient living. Céline’s work focuses on the community and ecological challenges of major development and infrastructure projects, in particular the creation of exemplary eco-neighbourhoods, including the award-winning Technopôle Angus.
She has been teaching green architecture and urban ecology at the Université de Montréal’s School of Architecture for over 15 years, and regularly gives lectures.
Radical reuse
Provencher_Roy is designing radical reuse projects that reinvent cities from the inside out, saving and adapting existing structures for entirely new purposes. The approach treats buildings as never final, but always in the process of becoming. With small moves that make maximum impact, radical reuse reinvents structures that have outlived their original purposes.
This approach contributes to a broader understanding of the issues relating to the development of the site, its urban context, the architectural design of the new building and its functional and physical coexistence with its environment. It establishes the parameters of a framework for intervention to be designed, developed and implemented at subsequent stages, and ensures, from the outset, that the result will live up to expectations.
Case Study
MONTRÉAL TOWER
Originally intended as an icon of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal, Québec, Montréal Tower was unfinished when the games began. Despite its eventual opening in 1987, the Tower long stood as a textbook example of a white elephant – an expensive-to-maintain structure that served little purpose. Designed by French architect Roger Taillibert, the Tower anchors the cables that support the Olympic Stadium’s retractable roof. After its completion, the Tower – despite its architectural significance – remained largely abandoned. The observatory overlooking the Olympic campus was still open to the public, but over 200,000 square feet of rentable space for sports organizations sat vacant for decades.
But, in 2015, the Régie des Installations Olympiques commissioned Provencher_Roy to renovate the Tower, re-envisioning it as contemporary office spaces. The renovation was part of a plan to lease the space to the leading financial institution Mouvement Desjardins, bringing new life to the forgotten Montréal landmark.
Our design radically reuses this idiosyncratic building, turning it into a signature office space. We stripped away 60% of the façade, replacing it with a glass curtain wall and converting the three-sided floors into workspaces. The design glazes the two long façades to bring in light and open up sweeping views. The now-exposed splayed interior columns form an “architectural promenade” filled with informal seating and collaboration tables. Workstations occupy an open plan anchored by central meeting rooms and amenity spaces. Throughout, murals and references, like a faceted lobby ceiling that recalls the original design, honour the Tower’s history. Now an active part of the community, the Tower will attract visitors to Montréal and take its rightful place as an icon of the city’s ingenuity, cultural legacy, and collective identity.
Case Study
PORT OF MONTRÉAL TOWER AND GRAND QUAI
This project transforms what was once a major industrial dock and later a crumbling infrastructural complex in the heart of Old Montréal into an exceptional public landscape that reforges the links between the city and the Saint Lawrence River. Originally built in the early 20th century when Montréal was a major international port, the Iberville Terminal housed four huge shipping hangars. Later, a cruise passenger terminal was added, the pier was converted for automobile traffic, and the hangars became parking lots. These transformations severed the city from its riverfront, turning the pier into a forbidding piece of infrastructure. Over time and despite significant maintenance investments, the complex fell into ruin, further disrupting the urban fabric.
The redesign transforms this complex into an elevated promenade that reconnects the city to its waterfront, anchors the new riverwalk, and offers a signature urban gathering place. The design remakes the Terminal, turning its roof into an inviting esplanade that commands sweeping vistas over the city and River, offering visitors arriving by cruise an unforgettable introduction to Montréal. Outfitted with a boardwalk and benches fashioned from reclaimed wooden trusses, the esplanade transforms what was once an imposing piece of infrastructure into an inviting urban gathering place that evokes its industrial heritage. Garden landscapes punctuate the promenade and frame skylights to the redesigned passenger Terminal. The terminal itself now welcomes cruise passengers at ground level. The new circulation pattern opens up the roof of the esplanade and rationalizes vehicle traffic patterns, allowing cars to access the parking lot in the hangars without disrupting the pedestrian experience.
Case Study
TECHNOPÔLE ANGUS – PHASE II
This project reinvented an abandoned train yard from 1904, turning it into a mixed-use eco-district and a life-sized laboratory for sustainable development and social innovation. The Angus Shops were once a bustling centre in which railcars for the Canadian Pacific Railway were manufactured and repaired. But this hub fell into sharp decline in the 1950s, as automobiles and airplanes overtook rail as the preferred mode of travel. The complex shuttered in 1992, standing as a scar in the landscape. In addition, the site had become contaminated after almost a century of industrial use, making any new development challenging.
Our design transforms the industrial park into an urban village that restores the health of the surrounding ecology. The design creates a district where businesses and families share a dynamic, ecologically robust, and welcoming community. A system of shared streets, urban woodlands, eco-corridors, and public squares lined with local businesses structures the neighbourhood, creating an animated and accessible public realm that actively repairs the environment. Moreover, the design uses a site-wide energy transfer loop that recovers unused heat from all possible sources, including geothermal wells, enabling it to be heated sustainably. The project is a testament to community-centric and future-sensitive urban design and the potential for density to fund and support comprehensive environmental renewal efforts.
Case Study
WORLD TRADE CENTRE MONTRÉAL
This project – dating from 1992 – took a historic city block in Old Montréal and transformed it into a contemporary complex for business and trade, while preserving the historic structures on-site. The design approach minimizes new construction while combining a cluster of historic buildings into a cohesive whole. After a comprehensive study of the 17 buildings forming the block, we developed a scheme to preserve as much as possible of the existing building stock and highlight the heritage it embodies. Complete retrofits and a series of walkways in a covered atrium that spans several buildings equip the complex to host a range of programs, including prestigious offices, an exhibition centre, a luxury hotel, restaurants, lounges, boutiques, and a recreation centre. This mix of vocations attracts a highly diversified clientele and remakes the historic block into one that promotes trade regionally, nationally, and internationally.
