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Architects design $160 million Montreal transport
centre to meet environmental objectives
Covered transport centre
seven football fields long
Canadian Design and Construction Report Staff writer
Now 75 per cent completed, the $160 million STM’s
Stinson Transport Centre will open in 2014, setting a new
standard for excellence for transport centres across
Canada, not only from an environmental perspective but
also for its approach to urban integration, say the proj-
ect’s architects.
Lemay’s Pierre Larouche (principal partner – architec-
ture and design) and Michel Lauzon (principal partner –
creation) said in a news release the project’s goal in-
cludes “building links to the community.”
The centre stands out for its integration with the sur-
rounding urban environment, and for its reduced ecolog-
ical footprint, the news release says. “Its unique feature
is the immense roof, conceived essentially as a fifth
façade and composed of strips of green space and enor-
mous skylights in the form of trusses that echo the mesh
of roads in the neighbourhood below. It stretches the
length of seven football fields. To limit the noise and the
sight of such a high concentration of buses, the new
building was designed as a fully enclosed structure, cov-
ered by a 35,000 sq. m. roof.”
28 – Fall 2013 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report
Furthermore, the architects say they were able not
only to preserve 230 trees on the site, but designed it to
plant 600 more. This will revitalize an industrial landscape
and improve the environment, they said.
Lemay’s architect-designers saw the project as an op-
portunity to create added value in this part of the St. Lau-
rent borough, Lauzon said. The ultra-modern centre will
become a natural extension of the sector residents' iden-
tity. The care given to urban integration also led Lemay
to include a public square and parking for bicycles and
car sharing open to the public. Bus movements will be
confined to the building's interior. In the architects’ view,
this space will be a good place not only to work, but to
live. “We wanted to create a transport centre that embod-
ies our commitment to sustainable development and
maintaining a constant dialogue with citizens,” said Jo-
celyn Leblanc, the STM’s project director.
The Stinson Transport Centre will be able to accom-
modate 300 vehicles, including many articulated buses,
and 800 people. The project’s designers are aiming to
win LEED certification for the building. The project is on
track to be completed in December 2013.