Îlot Balmoral — Local services in Montreal

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Îlot Balmoral Energizes Montreal’s Creative Economy as a New Addition to Downtown Skyline Provencher_Roy Provencher_Roy • Architekten The Îlot Balmoral, a 13-storey mixed-use office building commissioned by the Société d’Habitation de Montréal (SHDM), rises as a testimony to Montréal’s creative economy. One of the final major developmental pieces of the ‘Quartier des Spectacles’ in downtown Montréal, the impressive structure sits adjacent to Place des Festivals, and is the new home of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and UQAC’s École des arts numériques, de l'animation et du design (NAD School).

photo_credit Stéphane BrüggerStéphane Brügger “We proposed four visions of what an office building specifically designed for a cultural economy could look like, and Îlot Balmoral was selected to echo the very vibrant, dynamic nature of the district,” explains architect Claude Provencher, founding partner at Provencher_Roy. “The Quartier des Spectacles is a cultural centre of activity that is now almost complete in its revitalization and transformation of the urban fabric surrounding Place des Arts.”

photo_credit Stéphane BrüggerStéphane Brügger An architectural symbol of creativity

On the surface, Îlot Balmoral is a highly dynamic structure rising up from the urban fabric. The almost perfect cube is very clean and slick, and is wrapped in exterior glass that was carefully selected for its white frit pattern and translucent panels. The smooth and seamless exterior positions the façade as a potential giant screen against which projections of Quartier des Spectacles initiatives can be presented. Subtle and dynamic tonality provides a sense of mass and substance to the structure, and the glass façade provides an enormous infusion of light into the building. The frit pattern also serves to control thermal heat gain inside of the building, which meets the firm’s LEED Gold sustainability objectives.

photo_credit Stéphane BrüggerStéphane Brügger The exterior façade’s infusion of light dynamically highlights a large internal atrium, carved diagonally through the centre of the building to create two volumes. The firm oriented the cut based on the site’s previously existing pedestrian flow, moving diagonally between the Place des Arts Metro station and Place des Festivals. To delineate the cut, and to make the building’s mark on the skyline, a bright red external fold contrasts against the clean glass exterior. The colour was chosen as an echo of the cultural branding materials of the Quartier des Spectacles, and serves to distinguish Îlot Balmoral from the functions of more traditional office towers in the district.

photo_credit Stéphane BrüggerStéphane Brügger Anchoring the creative economy

As a nod to Îlot Balmoral’s importance to Montreal’s creative scene, the National Film Board of Canada signed on as the building’s core tenant. Celebrating 50 years of film excellence, the Canadian institution was looking to modernize and transform their facilities, and the move included the reinstallation of the iconic NFB logo in the new lobby, which is a symbol of Canadian design history.

photo_credit Stéphane BrüggerStéphane Brügger “The NFB signing was proof of concept for us that architecture can redeploy and reprogram how neighbourhoods are defined, not only on a visual or physical level, but also in its role as a centre of cohabitation,” says Provencher. “Several other cultural organizations have since signed leases, and Îlot Balmoral is becoming the creative hub that we envisioned.”

photo_credit Stéphane BrüggerStéphane Brügger Without requiring any significant changes to the architecture, Provencher_Roy redesigned four floors of Îlot Balmoral for the NFB in order to accommodate their technical requirements, including editing rooms and the hosting of state-of-the-art equipment. They also built a brightly lit white staircase leading up to the NFB offices, located directly under the red canopy of the building’s main entrance.

photo_credit Stéphane BrüggerStéphane Brügger A beacon of...

Ilot Balmoral is one of the more intriguing and modern buildings that have recently sprung up in downtown Montreal. It has a unique architecture that brings together ligns, forms, shapes, colors and textures. Montreal needs more of these buildings, especially in a neighborhood that has an overabundance of very ordinary and boring...

The new home of the National Film Board's head office. Beautiful architecture that is a nice addition to the changing landscape of the Place des arts area. Looking forward to its completion as I'm especially curious about the public spaces on...