The Ville de Montréal is launching a multidisciplinary architecture competition for the design of the Bibliothèque du quartier Villeray, to be newly built, and the redevelopment of Parc Le Prévost, in the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension.
The design of this library/garden is underpinned by three principles: sociability, education and creation. These thematic foundations will inform living environments as part of the project. The new building will be designed in the manner of a “garden of ideas” opening onto the adjacent park, emphasizing subtle, flowing connections to attenuate the boundaries between exterior and interior spaces.
The new Bibliothèque du quartier Villeray will replace Le Prévost library, which is currently housed in the Patro Villeray community centre. The future library will maintain its existing links with the Patro Villeray and the nearby Maison de la culture Claude-Léveillée, thus providing the community grounding needed to ensure the project’s success and longevity.
Redeveloping Parc Le Prévost so that it is in dialogue with the built environment will create a setting conducive to gathering, where visitors can recharge their batteries, no matter what the season. The park must be a resilient space and, along with the new library, must adhere to the principles of universal design.
The library project will be compliant with a sustainability approach and must target PassivHaus and LEED NC v4.1 Gold accreditations. The development will be the first PassivHaus-certified project in Montréal and the first library in Canada with this certification.
The construction budget for the project is $42.5 million, plus taxes, in 2025 Canadian dollars.
This competition is:
- a multidisciplinary architecture competition;
- open to competitors from Québec as well as any province or territory covered by an intergovernmental agreement on liberalization of public procurements applicable to the Ville de Montréal;
- held in two stages, plus an intermediate stage; the first stage involves anonymous proposals, the intermediate stage involves addition of members to complement the finalist teams, and the second stage consists in submission of service offerings by a maximum of four finalists selected by the jury;
- a project competition leading to a contract to execute the project.
Stage 1 / Call for proposals
Any team comprising at least the following professionals is eligible to enter Stage 1 of the competition:
- A sponsoring architect;
- A co-ordinating architect with at least five years of experience;
- A design architect, LEED AP or LEED AP BD+C with five years of experience; OR a design architect without LEED accreditation with a minimum of five years of experience assisted by a design architect, LEED AP or LEED AP BD+C with five years of experience;
- A landscape architect with five years of experience.
Intermediate stage / Submission of team complement package
Any team whose proposal has been selected by the jury after Stage 1, that meets the eligibility conditions for Stage 1 and that also includes at least the following professionals is eligible for Stage 2 of the competition:
- A sponsoring architect, who must be the same person as at Stage 1;
- A co-ordinating architect, who must be the same person as at Stage 1;
- A design architect, who must be the same person as at Stage 1;
- A site supervisor architect with 10 years of experience;
- A landscape architect, who must be the same person as at Stage 1;
- A civil engineer with five years of experience;
- A structural engineer with five years of experience;
- A mechanical engineer, LEED AP or LEED AP BD+C with 10 years of experience; OR a mechanical engineer without LEED accreditation with a minimum of five years of experience assisted by a mechanical engineer, LEED AP or LEED AP BD+C with 10 years of experience;
- An electrical engineer with 10 years of experience;
- A site supervisor engineer with 10 years of experience.
Stage 2 / Finalists
Any finalist that has demonstrated its eligibility per the conditions for the intermediate stage is eligible to enter Stage 2 of the competition.
The jury, which is the same for both stages of the competition, comprises the following individuals:
- Ikram Abdeljelil, Engineer, Team Lead, Infrastructures vertes, Service de l’eau, Ville de Montréal
- Manuel R. Cisneros, Architect, LEED AP, Director, Environmental and Regenerative Strategies, Sid Lee Architecture
- Joël Courchesne, Architect, LEED AP BD+C & O+M, CAGBC, LEED Advisory Committee, SGPI – Division Transition Écologique et Innovation, Ville de Montréal
- Lucie Langlois, Architect, LEED AP, Vice-présidence à l’expertise et au soutien des projets, Société québécoise des infrastructures, co-founder, Bâtiment Passif Québec
- Andréane Leclerc, Division Head, Culture, bibliothèques et événements publics, borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Ville de Montréal
- Guillaume Pelletier, Architect, LEED AP BD+C, GP-Architecte
- Bernard St-Denis, Landscape Architect, AAPQ, FCSLA, Honorary Professor, School of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture, Université de Montréal
Stage 1 and Intermediate stage
No fees or allowances will be paid at these stages of the competition.
Stage 2
Each finalist that presents a service offering deemed compliant with the Rules will receive a lump sum of $160,000, plus taxes.
In the case of the winner, this amount will be deducted from the fees stipulated in the contract for completion of the project.
Winner
The maximum amount budgeted for the professional fees to be paid to the winner is $7,535,000, plus taxes.
Interested applicants must obtain the competition documents via the SÉAO electronic tendering system.
Competitors’ and finalists’ complete submission or service offering dossiers must be received by the following dates:
Stage 1 / Proposals
February 25, 2025, 1:30 p.m., Eastern Time
Intermediate stage / Team complement
April 15, 2025, 1:30 p.m., Eastern Time
Stage 2 / Finalists’ service offerings
July 15, 2025, 1:30 p.m., Eastern Time
All communications must be e-mailed to the competition professional consultant, Michelle Décary, at: [email protected]
This competition is being held in compliance with the proposed Règlement type pour un concours d'architecture, pluridisciplinaire ou de design de la Ville de Montréal (Model rules for an architectural, multidisciplinary, or design competition sponsored by the Ville de Montréal), approved by the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation (MAMH).