Exterior of Espace Georges-Émile-Lapalme

Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme

Country Canada
City Montréal
Customer Place des Arts de Montréal
Surface area 3,200 m²
Year 2011
Certification LEED Gold

With its five performance halls, Place des Arts remains the premier venue for performing arts in Québec.

Since its opening in 1963, this cultural landmark had gradually lost its legibility. The public space connecting theatres, the metro, and shops had become a fragmented sequence of disconnected areas. The project’s first objective is to restore Place des Arts’ identity as a major cultural complex with a strong urban presence.

It then proposes the complete redesign of the Hall into a Grand Cultural Foyer: a cohesive, animated, and emblematic space. New perspectives, clear circulation paths, and a strong architectural gesture reinforce the site's cultural mission.

The overall concept is punctuated by thresholds that mark the transitions between interior and exterior, between the Foyer and the spaces designed for performances and public activities.

For specific events, the design extends across floors, walls, and ceilings, using an immersive lighting and audiovisual system to create enveloping sensory passages. Outside, the accessible roof of the canopy offers a privileged vantage point over the entire site and its dynamic activity.

View of Espace Georges-Émile-Lapalme with digital screens

The perspective is transformed, the point of view renewed, and the public space elevated. This bold project integrates into its environment with strength and originality, asserting itself as a new cultural landmark at the heart of the city.

Architecture

Provencher_Roy / Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes

Electromechanical

Pellemon

Structure

WSP

Contractor

Groupe TEQ

Photography

Caroline Bergeron / Stéphane Groleau

Distinctions

Prix d'excellence pour le design- Ontario Association of Architects 2013
Projet de l'année Grands Prix du Design 2012
Prix Lieu public-Établissement public et institutionnel Grands Prix du Design 2012
Prix spécial Signalisation-Branding des lieux Grands Prix du Design 2012
Finaliste-Architecture commerciale de plus de 1000 m² Azure Magazine Awards 2012
Prix Or-Design intérieur/commercial Design Exchange Awards 2011