Mount Royal Park
Boasting a traffic of more than three million visitors annually, Mount Royal Park in Montreal was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1874. Despite the park’s evolution over time, we can still see the bulk of the original plan. In recognition of its uniqueness, the Québec government gave it the status of Historic and natural district. By virtue of this recognition of the patrimonial value, a dozen of municipal and provincial organizations need to ratify each redevelopment project.
Game area, 2009
This project revolves around an animal theme: the blue-spotted salamander is Mount Royal’s amphibian. Innovative playground equipment, such as water features, is embedded in the salamander’s silhouette emerging from the ground; they encourage children to play differently by promoting their motor, cognitive and social development. Against this unusual backdrop, the landscape architect has designed and created the Children Rights Trail, dotted with didactical stations. These plates invite the public of all ages to discover the rights guaranteed to children by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Refrigerated skating rink, 2006
This project involves the integration of a heavy technical installation in a conservation park, without depleting its natural and heritage features. The challenge rests on the construction and camouflage of important infrastructures: 30 km of steel pipe, an underground service corridor of 60 m, a 65 m trench, 500 m2 of slab and a service building of 850 m2. With its organic shape - two lobes of different sizes fitted with an island of greenery, the Beaver Lake skating rink is the most complex skating surface ever built in Canada and probably in North America.
