Stage 1
Switching operation.
The switch is an operation to change a train of track. It is composed of a mobile part, the switch blades and a fixed part, the stock rail. The part where the tracks cross is called the frog. Like a switching operation, the Smith Parkway re-establishes connections with the Montreal grid. Its course is sequenced by five switch blades, five key moments. The Smith Promenade becomes the heart of the Griffintown district.
Stage 2
For Smith Street, Operation Switching is a way to reweave the links with the neighbouring districts, to articulate the spaces in such a way as to reveal the singular identity of the place and to create a meaningful public space for the occupants of the district.
An identity route. Smith Drive wishes to recall the original meaning of the Founding Route - the Wellington Axis - and thus re-establish its connection to the historic city and the southwestern neighbourhoods. It also wishes to highlight two in-situ infrastructures that are intimately linked to the history of Griffintown and to the development of Montreal; the rail link between the port, the Lachine Canal and its docks, as well as the Canadian National Railway axis that still links the city to the rest of the world. These urban entities, of different scales and eras, will be expressed through the development by :
- The presence of a long pedestrian wharf recalling both the industrial past and the human movement, at the heart of the project;
- A shared path, accessible to all and offering priority to pedestrians;
- A landscaped strip with sidewalk, allowing circulation and occupation around private buildings;
And, ultimately :
- The realignment of the swing bridge extending the promenade beyond the canal;
- The opening up of the site to the east and west, through the removal of buildings and the lowering of the ground.
The Parkway in Three Stages
The Smith Parkway is an urban redevelopment project that encourages a variety of uses of public space. Numerous housing units, offices and local services are proposed to encourage the effervescence of a new life in this district. Operation Switch and the new vocation of Smith Street are based on the evolution of urban life over time. The architectural concept of Smith Drive is inspired by the singular subdivision of Griffintown, with its angles and points resulting from the combination of the original Charland subdivision and the major rail and river axes.
Rooted in the rich and complex history of Griffintown, Smith Street, in its new form, finds its place in the contemporary development of Montreal and proposes 3 significant urban anchors:
Wellington Point
Directly linked to Ann Street, Wellington Point takes advantage of the unique configuration of the viaduct. This passage proposes 3 interior spaces, each one hosting a pavilion-object and an exterior square. The appropriation of the space is supported by uses contributing to urban life (local services, exhibitions, café-bar), a lighting system and the integration of urban arts (permanent or ephemeral).
The Peel space
In the center, the promenade opens onto the ponds, the downtown area, the mountain and becomes a place of transfer (bicycle, car, tramway), conducive to meetings. The old flour warehouse is highlighted; its archaeological integrity is protected and expressed on the ground by white furniture. This allegory to flour gives way to the Baker's pavilion, a more than appropriate proximity service. The pedestrian quay runs along the slope, which has become a planted area; it integrates benches and plantations; it is next to a fault, a low wall of corten and historical notes.
The point of the "Aiguilleur"
The wide square animated by water and mist commemorates the old public bath, the floods and Smokey Valley. Gallery Square with its public building and garden is reconfigured in the original Griffintown pattern. A work of art marks the original triangular form. A temporary occupation of Block 8 proposes a nursery contributing to the neighborhood's "arboreal" heritage. The realigned bridge, the end of the quay and the ascent to the Maison de l''Aiguilleur' allow us to appreciate the opening onto the canal, the space and the life of the neighborhood.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
In contrast to the winning project, this one relies on a strategy that is decidedly more urban and less landscaped in the traditional sense of the term, which is an equally interesting and defensible approach insofar as it is well asserted and assumed, which is obviously the case here. This service proposes a very urban approach and system, a new space of the hierarchical city. It is an elegant, comfortable project. It is well resolved, demonstrating the competence of the designers. The strong gesture: the line reveals the scenario, the point of view on arrival. It gives character and identity to the place that articulates well with the activity of the adjacent buildings. The association with the real estate projects is obvious. It would contribute to the visual harmony of the new ensemble created, but would tend to dangerously associate the public space with the private investment projects that border it. This service also proposes to open up the site. The embankment is presented as a contemplative element that is not accessible and that perhaps does not assert itself sufficiently for some, while for others, such a position is defensible considering the great generosity of the space allocated to pedestrians. The resumption of the parallel lines of the old rails is clearly affirmed, but the lengthy composition has the disadvantage of standardizing the character of the spaces from one end of the promenade to the other, amplified by the absence of an access to the embankment.
The highly graphic - even plastic - character of the project is one of its strengths, but also, paradoxically, one of its weaknesses. Although the components and materials are assembled in a composition of great elegance, they do not reinvent conventions. The jury is out on the erasure of historical traces in order to commemorate history by reinventing other objects to evoke its traces. The use of the underside of the arches with pavilions/objects is interesting. The jury strongly questioned the use of corten steel as a historical reminder in Montreal. Corten steel, which seems to be overused in recent years in many recent projects in order to evoke an industrial past, creates a certain trivialization of this solution. Wood has not been unanimously accepted either, due to its limited durability and problematic maintenance requirements. The vegetation could be more present, the tree canopy could be higher. On the other hand, the jury observed a mastery of technical aspects, the rainwater irrigation system is effective.
Finally, despite the interest it raised in terms of the mastery and development of the idea, this performance appeared as a solution that did not present enough originality in the resolution of its design, despite a very relevant vision of the promenade as a link between Old Montreal and the Lachine Canal. Despite these few drawbacks, this project remained in high consideration by the jury for a long time, the finalists having demonstrated a high level of mastery of the composition and technical aspects of the project.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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