Arbora

Country Canada
City Montréal
Client Grifaldo SEC
Year 2019
Certification LEED Platinum

Designed by Provencher_Roy, phases II and III of the Arbora sustainable housing project are located on a former industrial site.

The site is bound by William, de la Montagne, Eleanor and Ottawa streets, in the Griffintown neighborhood of Montréal’s Le Sud-Ouest borough. The project contributes to the revitalization of the neighbourhood and to shaping a new urban residential area that is sustainable, innovative, diverse and lively.

Ecological considerations are an important component of the project, which employs a number of sustainable development strategies.

The planned landscaping privileges the use of drought-resistant indigenous plants in order to minimize water consumption in the outdoor spaces. It also makes minimal use of turf, a medium not conducive to biodiversity. Finally, the project mitigates heat islands through the use of high-SRI surfaces, which makes it possible to meet the minimum 20% ratio of vegetated outdoor space.

Two principles of heritage interpretation have been privileged to commemorate the site’s former occupation and, more broadly, the history of the neighborhood in which the project is integrated: evocation and information.

The composition of the architecture and landscape integrates elements that characterize the site’s historical high points, evoking for users a sense of the area’s past, while information about the site’s history is conveyed to residents and visitors in a more didactic manner.