Simon-Valois Shared Space

The purpose of the competition is to select a proposal to transform the area around Place Simon-Valois into a zone de rencontre, or “shared space,” by developing shared streets along sections of Rue Ontario and Avenue Valois.

With this shared space, the borough aims, in particular, to:

• Improve traffic flow and safety of movement around Place Simon-Valois.
• Assert the pedestrian character of the site by giving pedestrians priority throughout the defined perimeter, once the Highway Safety Code has been amended to include shared-street regulations.
• Considerably enhance the quality of the amenities in an important, highly active area of the neighbourhood.
• Improve the site’s configuration to make it suitable for large-scale events and increase the square’s liveliness during activities that involve road closures.
• Develop know-how in implementing shared streets in Québec.

This competition is part of an initiative (Programme d’implantation de rues piétonnes et partagées) aimed at accelerating the implementation of pedestrian streets in public areas, with the ultimate goal of creating a citizen-focused dynamic that places people at the heart of the urban development process.

The project budget is $3,200,000, plus taxes.

This competition is:

• multidisciplinary,
• national in scope,
• held in two stages: the first consisting of anonymous proposals, the second consisting of service offerings prepared by four jury-selected finalists.

Stage 1
All competitors are invited to submit a proposal: an overall idea that conveys their vision of the project and its mission, in accordance with the competition objectives.

The jury will select up to four proposals. This stage is unpaid and anonymous.

Stage 2
Finalists will be asked to expand on their idea and publicly present a service offering (concept/sketch) to the jury. At the conclusion of this stage, which is paid, the jury will select a winner.

Stage 1/ Proposal
Any firm or team that fulfills the following criteria is eligible:

• has at least two designers;
• has at least one lead designer:
  • who has been a certified member of an order or professional association in the fields of architecture or landscape architecture for at least five years or has a university degree in a program leading to the design or completion of public development projects and who has five years of professional experience in similar projects,
  • who works out of an office located in Canada at the time of entering the competition.

Stage 2/ Service offering
Any firm or team that fulfils the stage 1/ proposal criteria, along with the following conditions, is eligible for stage 2:

• has at least one civil engineer with five years of experience in similar projects,
• has a coordinator.

External engineers and consultants, in particular from the fields of civil, mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering, may join the team. 

The jury is the same for both stages and is made up of the following people:

• Sinisha Brdar, architect and professor at the UQAM school of design
• François de la Chevrotière, project engineer, borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
• Luu-Thuy Nguyen, landscape architect, LN Paysage
• Kim Pariseau, architect, APPAREIL architecture
• Éric Turcotte, architect, urban planner and urban designer, Urban Strategies Inc.
• Nicole Valois, professor at the Université de Montréal school of urban planning and landscape architecture
• Jimmy Vigneux, executive director, SDC Hochelaga-Maisonneuve

Competitors (Stage 1)
No fees or allowances will be paid for this stage of the competition.

Finalists (Stage 2)
Each finalist who presents a service offering deemed to meet the competition rules will receive a lump sum of $25,000, plus taxes.

Winner
The maximum budget for the winner’s professional fees is $416,000, plus taxes.

Competition documents (regulations and program) can be obtained on the Québec government’s electronic invitation to tender system SÉAO until Wednesday, October 11.

The complete proposal or service offering of competitors or finalists must be received by the following dates at the address below:

Stage 1/ Anonymous proposals
Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 12:00 p.m., Montréal time

Stage 2/ Finalists’ service offerings
Wednesday, December 12, 2017, 12:00 p.m., Montréal time

Submission address:
Borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
Attn: Mr. Magella Rioux, borough secretary
6854 Rue Sherbrooke Est
Montréal, Québec  H1N 1E1
Canada

All communications must be emailed to the professional advisor at: [email protected]

This competition was 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'Occupation du territoire (MAMOT).