The subject of this competition is the Espace Rivière construction project in the Arrondissement Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles. A new building and/or expansion is to be built on the site of the existing library at the corner of Perras and Rodolphe-Forget boulevards in the Rivière-des-Prairies neighbourhood. The multidisciplinary architecture competition will involve construction totalling approximately 10,060 m2 of gross floor area.
Competitors are free to submit what they consider to be the most relevant of the potential architectural solutions—retain, redevelop and expand, or deconstruct the existing building and construct a new one—provided that the needs of the program and requirements of the property owner are fulfilled.
Competitors’ considerations must include, but are not limited to, the pros and cons relative to the site’s architectural and development potential, the project’s environmental value and the investment required
This multidisciplinary architecture competition an opportunity to endow the Rivière-des-Prairies neighbourhood with a distinctive building with an original design that will raise the area’s profile and enable it to positively differentiate itself, while fulfilling the city’s duty to be exemplary in promoting design excellence and strengthening Montréal’s status as a UNESCO City of Design.
Implementing the Espace Rivière project will, among other things:
- Provide residents of the eastern tip of Montréal Island with high-quality facilities and services to compensate for the fact that the large city facilities are some distance away, and for the significant deficiency in cultural and recreational infrastructures;
- Address the long-expressed need to build a new Rivière-des-Prairies Maison de la culture, as it is the last remaining maison of the original network that has no dedicated space in which to offer services to the public;
- Remedy the shortcomings and obsolescence of the Rivière-des-Prairies library and bring it up to next-generation standards;
- Resolve the challenges facing the Rivière-des-Prairies community centre, which is currently occupies leased spaces that have long been too confined and ill-suited to their purpose;
- Incorporate the Rivière-des-Prairies Accès Montréal office into the new building.
The project plan promotes a mix of services, synergy among the teams and a diversity of potential uses in one location. The various services will co-exist according to a decompartmentalized concept with the premises divided among three departments (secteurs) and six hubs (pôles).
These new facilities will be built in conjunction with the urban revitalization of the Pôle civique René-Masson, which will become the Pôle Espace Rivière. The overall project will see the establishment take on an identity-shaping role for the neighbourhood and be in coherent dialogue with its natural and landscaped environment: the nearby woodland and the Rivière des Prairies.
The project budget is $46,324,522.06, taxes included, in 2022 dollars.