Now 75% complete, the Montreal Transit Authority’s (STM) Stinson Transport Centre will open in 2014 and will set a new standard for excellence for transport centres across Canada, not only from an environmental perspective but also for its approach to urban integration.
Designed by Montreal-based Lemay with the goal of “building links to the community,” the centre stands out for its integration with the surrounding urban environment, and for its reduced ecological footprint. Its unique feature is the immense roof, conceived essentially as a fifth façade and composed of strips of green space and enormous skylights in the form of trusses that echo the mesh of roads in the neighbourhood below. It stretches the length of seven football fields. To limit the noise and the sight of such a high concentration of buses, the new building was designed as a fully enclosed structure, covered by a 35,000-square-metre roof.
Furthermore, Lemay did not only preserve the 230 trees on the site, but has planted 600 more. This will revitalize an industrial landscape and improve the environment. Lemay’s architect-designers saw the project as an opportunity to create real added value in this part of the St. Laurent borough, according to principal Michel Lauzon. The ultra-modern centre will become a natural extension of the identity of the residents of this sector. The care given to urban integration also led Lemay to include a public square and parking for bicycles and car sharing that will be open to the public. The movement of buses will be confined to the interior of the building. In the architects’ view, this space will be a good place not only to work, but to live.
The Stinson Transport Centre was built with rigorous respect for the allocated budgets, at a cost of $160 million. The centre will be able to accommodate 300 vehicles, including many articulated buses, and 800 people. The project’s designers are striving for LEED certification, and the project is expected to be completed in December 2013.
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