Montreal Tower

This project was selected as an Honor winner in ARCHITECT's 2022 Architecture & Interiors Awards, Architecture: Adaptive Reuse category.

“This is a great example of how reuse and transformation can save the past and create a new future. The new interior insertions add a refined and distinct element inside the fantastic structural forms.” — Juror Joey Shimoda, FAIA

At 575 feet in height, the dramatically inclined tower above Montreal’s 1976 Olympic Stadium is the sixth tallest structure in the city. Long considered a white elephant, the Montreal Tower, with 200,000-square-feet of interior space long remained vacant except for the observatory at its summit. But locally based Provencher_Roy has reimagined the tower—initially designed by French architect Roger Taillibert—to provide uniquely configured contemporary office spaces.

Replacing large swaths of the tower’s original prefabricated concrete cladding with glass curtain wall provides natural light throughout the new office spaces and exposes the tower’s internal structure for the first time. The revised project maintains Montreal Tower’s unusual sculptural form, inclined at a greater angle than the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy, retaining its distinctive silhouette while revealing previously hidden structural gymnastics.

The designers utilized extensive 3D modeling and laser-scanning to document the tower’s unique existing conditions and develop economical and achievable solutions to making the structure office-friendly. For most of its almost half century history, Montreal Tower has symbolized profligate public spending on the Olympics. But with its recent renovations, the principal structure has found a sustainable new life that embraces its unique form and contradicts its unfortunate history.

PROJECT CREDITS:
Project: Montreal Tower, Montreal
Client/Owner: Société de développement et de mise en valeur du Parc olympique
Architect: Provencher_Roy, Montreal. Mélissa Bélanger (Partner in charge and Project Manager – Architecture) Claude Provencher (Design Lead – Architecture), Alain Compéra (Project Manager); Anik Mandalian (Project Manager); Josée Beaucage (Project manager – Architecture (envelope)); Luc Martineau (Tech. Sr); Benoît Lacombe (Project manager – Architecture (base building)); Anne Rouaud (Design Team); Danick Chouinard (Site supervisor); Mathieu Cormier (Site supervisor); Michel Roy (Cost control); Arnaud Bontemps; Marius Bouchard; Vanessa Dagenais; Normand Desjardins; Hani Diab; Tristan Doucet-Maly; Manuel Galipeau; Denis Gamache; Maxime Giguère; Maryia Kamisarava; Pascal Lessard; Guy Mancilla; Franck Murat; Raphael Sioui; Teodora Stefanova; Patrick-Hugh Tiernan. Richard Noël (Partner in charge – Interior Design); Marie-Claude Lambert (Project Manager – Architectural concept, Interior Design); Julien-Pierre Laurendeau (Lead Design - Interior Design); Kim Tétreault (Design team - Interior Design); Laurence Roy Design team; Normand Evers (Tech. Sr.); Diane Lafrance (Tech Sr.); Mathieu Caron Site supervisor
Interior Designer: Provencher_Roy
Structural Engineer: WSP
Electromechanics Engineer: Bouthillette Parizeau
Construction Manager: Pomerleau, Construction Management
General Contractor: Pomerleau, Construction Management
Building envelope: CLEB
Glass: CPA Structural Glass Inc
Code: Technorm
Hardware: ARD
Elevator: Innovatec
Photographer: Stéphane Brügger
Size in Square Feet: 150, 695 square feet
Cost: Architecture (base building and envelope): $105.5 million

Materials and Sources:
Acoustical ceilings: Armstrong, www.armstrongceilings.com
Suspension grid: Armstrong, www.armstrongceilings.com
Carpet: Interface, www.interface.com; Tretford by Specifica, www.tretfordamericas.com
Elevators/escalators: Global Tardif, www.globaltardif.com
Exterior Cladding:
Composite waterproofing system : Tremco, www.tremcosealants.com/
Paint: Sherwin William, www.sherwin-williams.com
Curtain wall: Vitreco, www.flynncompanies.com/
Flooring:
Floor and wall tile: Olympia, www.olympiatile.com/
Daltile, www.daltile.com/
Ciot, www.ciot.com/
Resilient flooring: Johnsonite, https://commercial.tarkett.com/en_US/brand/johnsonite
Altro, www.altrofloors.com
Wood floor: Mirage, www.planchersmirage.com
Solid surfacing: Quartz by Consentino, www.cosentino.com/fr-ca/silestone/
Corian, www.corian.com/-colors-of-corian-r-
Furniture:
Office furniture: Teknion, www.teknion.com
Artopex, https://www.artopex.com/fr/
Lounge, Chair, Table: Steelcase, https://www.steelcase.com/
Knoll, https://www.knoll.com/
Keilhauer by Cime, https://www.cimedecor.ca/fr/produits-cime/
Trium, https://trium.ca/
Mobel 360, http://mobel360.com/en/
Upholstery: Maharam, https://www.maharam.com/
Other furniture: Motorised blands: Altex, https://www.altexdesign.com/
Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: Ébénisterie Heritage, www.ebenisterieheritageinc.com/
Glass: Prelco, https://www.prelco.ca/
Lighting:
Interior general lighting: Signify, https://www.signify.com/en-us
Interior decorative lighting: Lumenpulse, https://www.lumenpulse.com/fr
Paints/Finishes: Sico, https://www.sico.ca/
Benjamin Moore, https://www.benjaminmoore.com
Sherwin Williams, https://www.sherwin-williams.ca
Wallcoverings: Walltalker & full size image reproduction on wallpaper by Metro Wallcoverings https://koroseal.com/products/walltalkers
Walls:
Demountable partitions: Teknion – Focus Wall, www.teknion.com
Plastic laminate: Abet Laminati, https://abetlaminati.com/fr/
Formica, https://www.formica.com/fr-ca
Windows/Curtainwalls/Doors: Vitreco, https://flynncompanies.com/flynn-canada-vitreco/