Montréal, Canada

Canadian architects Provensher_Roy present their latest project, Îlot Balmoral, an impressive mixed-use office tower that was commissioned by the Société d’Habitation de Montréal (SHDM).

The 13-story mixed-use office building is one of the final major developmental pieces of the “Quartier des Spectacles” in downtown Montréal, the impressive structure sits adjacent to Place des Festivals, and is the new home of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and UQAC’s École des arts numériques, de l’animation et du design (NAD School).

Îlot Balmoral is a highly dynamic structure rising from the urban fabric.

The almost perfect cube is very clean and slick and is wrapped in exterior glass that was carefully selected for its white frit pattern and translucent panels.

The smooth and seamless exterior positions the façade as a potential giant screen against which projections of Quartier des Spectacles initiatives can be presented.

Subtle and dynamic tonality provides a sense of mass and substance to the structure, and the glass façade provides an enormous infusion of light into the building.

The frit pattern also serves to control thermal heat gain inside of the building, which meets the firm’s LEED Gold sustainability objectives.

The exterior façade’s infusion of light dynamically highlights a large internal atrium, carved diagonally through the center of the building to create two volumes.

The firm oriented the cut based on the site’s previously existing pedestrian flow, moving diagonally between the Place des Arts Metro station and Place des Festivals.

To delineate the cut, and to make the building’s mark on the skyline, a bright red external fold contrasts against the clean glass exterior.

The color was chosen as an echo of the cultural branding materials of the Quartier des Spectacles and serves to distinguish Îlot Balmoral from the functions of more traditional office towers in the district.

“The smooth and seamless exterior positions the façade as a potential giant screen against which projections of Quartier des Spectacles initiatives can be presented,” states Provencher_Roy. 

“Subtle and dynamic tonality provides a sense of mass and substance to the structure, and the glass façade provides an enormous infusion of light into the building.” 

The firm created the giant red-colored cut according to the site’s previously existing pedestrian flow, which represents a moving diagonally between the Place des Arts Metro station and Place des Festivals. 

“To delineate the cut, and to make the building’s mark on the skyline, a bright red external fold contrasts against the clean glass exterior,” claim the architects.

The team preferred to use the red color, evoking the cultural branding materials of the Quartier des Spectacles, and according to the studio, “this large diagonal cut serves to distinguish Îlot Balmoral from the functions of more traditional office towers in the district.”

Project: Îlot Balmoral
Architects: Provencher_Roy
Client: Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal (SHDM)
Photographers: Stéphane Brügger