Architecture  ·  Buildings

Reenergizing The Creative Scene

July 3, 2023

words by Joel Wong | images courtesy of Stéphane Brügger

With its distinguishing bright red hue standing out amongst the Montreal skyline, the Îlot Balmoral makes its mark as a testament of the importance of the creative and cultural scene in Canada.

Located on an exceptional site in the heart of Montréal’s Quartier des spectacles, the Îlot Balmoral in downtown Montréal is home to the new National Film Board (NFB) head office that was designed specifically for its filmmaking activities. Distinguished by the large-scale, bright red facets and folds of its atrium space, running diagonally to the urban grid, the building is a testimony of Montréal’s creative and cultural economy. 

Designed as an architectural symbol of creativity, the 13-storey mixed-use office building was commissioned by the Société d’Habitation de Montréal (SHDM), with Provencher_Roy selected as the architect firm to design and give the building its unique facade.

The exterior of the Îlot Balmoral highlights a dynamic structure rising up from the urban fabric, with the almost perfect cubic shape wrapped in glass that was carefully selected for its white frit pattern and translucent panels. The design team at Provencher_Roy wanted to position the smooth and seamless facade as a potential giant screen against which projections of Quartier des Spectacles initiatives could be seen.

This gave rise to a more subtle and dynamic tonality which offered a sense of mass and substance to the structure, and the glass façade provided an enormous infusion of light into the building. The full height atrium allows light to penetrate deep into the building’s interior and illuminates the walkways bridging the two volumes. 

The atrium establishes the lobby’s unique identity, ascending skyward to the building’s glass ceiling amidst a bright material palette of white and light grey walls, and exposed concrete floors. The palette was chosen as an echo of the cultural branding materials of the Quartier des Spectacles, which reflected and enhanced the energy and dynamism of the lobby, anointed with additional features including exposed columns and a signature brass deck. The frit pattern also serves to control thermal heat gain inside of the building, which meets the firm’s LEED® Canada-NC Gold sustainability objectives. 

Utilising an inclusive design strategy, the team at Provencher_Roy embraced the vibrancy of the district by drawing in pedestrian flow across the diagonal cut of the building’s sunlit lobby. 

Design considerations involved that the building be solidly anchored to the city and its urban fabric while strengthening social and cultural considerations.

Because of its pivotal role and location, the building had the onus of becoming a visual beacon and architectural reference. It was fitting to design a building that would become the gateway connecting the city’s downtown core and the Quartier des spectacles, facilitating pedestrian circulation and access to the latter. 

“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. 

Beyond the functionality of the individual spaces of the built environment, the Îlot Balmoral captures and incorporates the vibrancy of the district, serving as a beacon of vibrancy to the creative and cultural economy cultivated.

Provencher_Roy is an award-winning Canadian architecture practice involved in all forms of the built environment. They champion an integrated approach to design and provide expertise in interior design, urban design, urban planning, landscape architecture, industrial design, and sustainable development.

For more information, please visit About Provencher Roy.