Complexe de soccer au CESM / SMEC Soccer Complex
2011
Montréal, Quebec, Canada- Architecture for culture, research, sport or leisure
- Building
- Sports complexes
The City of Montréal wishes to proceed with the construction of a municipal soccer complex in the borough of Villeray - Saint-Michel - Parc-Extension, on the western perimeter of the St-Michel Environmental Complex (SMEC) park.
This project responds to the need for training and competition sites for young soccer enthusiasts and to a sustainable development model. It is based on the following guiding principles
- a policy of accessibility to youth (time slots, preferential pricing, program for disadvantaged clientele)
- a goal of self-financing operating expenses through revenues generated by ridership
- the harmonious integration, with the SMEC park, of a LEED-NC Gold certified building and the use of greening;
- the fit with the City's design action plan.
This large-scale project is an ideal opportunity to integrate a state-of-the-art sports facility in a part of the City of Montreal that lacks such a facility.
The architectural concept
The soccer center will be contemporary in its architectural design and in the design process. It will also contribute to the enhancement of the site. The architectural composition will clearly reflect the building's vocation and will also translate its ecological vision.
The building should offer a varied spatial experience, a volumetric organization that facilitates the understanding and orientation of occupants while ensuring the comfort and well-being of users, visitors and occupants.
The design of the project must clearly respond to the requirements of the occupants by an adequate functional organization, respecting the principles of sustainable development (parameterized by the LEED-NC requirements) in a concern of architectural quality, contextual and a clean signature. It is hoped that this architectural work will serve to promote the SMEC.
The challenge
This sports building does not present any major challenges at the functional level. Its organizational scheme is simple because the shape of the site limits the possibilities of implantation. The challenge lies rather in the architectural design of the building, in the way it assumes the volume of the building, in the treatment of its long walls, in its relationship to the street and the site.
The project also presents a structural challenge because of the unobstructed spans of the playground.
The building will have to respect the principles of a green architecture with a sporting character that integrates with the SMEC park.
The Model
The City is looking for a design that will create a new model of sports facility, a different identity from what has been built in recent years.
The building's primary vocation will be to provide sports practice spaces. However, it will also be a building open to the population. The architectural treatment will have to clearly respond to these two vocations. The population must be able to recognize the building from Papineau Avenue and the park. With the exception of the spaces dedicated to sports and the spaces reserved for administration and operations, the spaces will be accessible to the public during opening hours.
Thus, the building will be mainly dedicated to soccer fans, but will remain accessible to everyone, including people passing through the SMEC park during the center's opening hours (e.g. free access to the washrooms).
Integration with the site
Despite the constraints related to its imposing volume and the limited room for maneuver on a small site, the indoor soccer center will stand out by a clear desire to dialogue with the MSRC site and the residential built environment. It will bridge the two environments and become a participatory element in the landscape setting.
The presence of the building will be evident not only on Papineau Avenue but from most of the viewpoints of the park in the making. The architectural treatment of the facades interfacing with the park will take this into account.
(From competition program)
(Unofficial automated translation)
This project responds to the need for training and competition sites for young soccer enthusiasts and to a sustainable development model. It is based on the following guiding principles
- a policy of accessibility to youth (time slots, preferential pricing, program for disadvantaged clientele)
- a goal of self-financing operating expenses through revenues generated by ridership
- the harmonious integration, with the SMEC park, of a LEED-NC Gold certified building and the use of greening;
- the fit with the City's design action plan.
This large-scale project is an ideal opportunity to integrate a state-of-the-art sports facility in a part of the City of Montreal that lacks such a facility.
The architectural concept
The soccer center will be contemporary in its architectural design and in the design process. It will also contribute to the enhancement of the site. The architectural composition will clearly reflect the building's vocation and will also translate its ecological vision.
The building should offer a varied spatial experience, a volumetric organization that facilitates the understanding and orientation of occupants while ensuring the comfort and well-being of users, visitors and occupants.
The design of the project must clearly respond to the requirements of the occupants by an adequate functional organization, respecting the principles of sustainable development (parameterized by the LEED-NC requirements) in a concern of architectural quality, contextual and a clean signature. It is hoped that this architectural work will serve to promote the SMEC.
The challenge
This sports building does not present any major challenges at the functional level. Its organizational scheme is simple because the shape of the site limits the possibilities of implantation. The challenge lies rather in the architectural design of the building, in the way it assumes the volume of the building, in the treatment of its long walls, in its relationship to the street and the site.
The project also presents a structural challenge because of the unobstructed spans of the playground.
The building will have to respect the principles of a green architecture with a sporting character that integrates with the SMEC park.
The Model
The City is looking for a design that will create a new model of sports facility, a different identity from what has been built in recent years.
The building's primary vocation will be to provide sports practice spaces. However, it will also be a building open to the population. The architectural treatment will have to clearly respond to these two vocations. The population must be able to recognize the building from Papineau Avenue and the park. With the exception of the spaces dedicated to sports and the spaces reserved for administration and operations, the spaces will be accessible to the public during opening hours.
Thus, the building will be mainly dedicated to soccer fans, but will remain accessible to everyone, including people passing through the SMEC park during the center's opening hours (e.g. free access to the washrooms).
Integration with the site
Despite the constraints related to its imposing volume and the limited room for maneuver on a small site, the indoor soccer center will stand out by a clear desire to dialogue with the MSRC site and the residential built environment. It will bridge the two environments and become a participatory element in the landscape setting.
The presence of the building will be evident not only on Papineau Avenue but from most of the viewpoints of the park in the making. The architectural treatment of the facades interfacing with the park will take this into account.
(From competition program)
(Unofficial automated translation)