“ The project focuses on the underlying presence of the mountain by dramatizing the
topography of the site .
MCGILL UNIVERSITY - POWER PLANT
INNOVATION The project was developed as part of a multidisciplinary integrated design exercise combining historical research , architecture , engineering , landscape , and urban acoustics to formulate a sensitive response to a problem that cannot be limited to utilitarian considerations .
The steeply pitched lot was an unused parking lot on Dr . Penfield avenue , which supported a greenhouse that had been demolished . It faces the castle-style pumping station of the McTavish underground reservoir and is part of the Mount Royal historic and natural District protected area .
CONCEPT The proposed concept is based on the following objectives :
• Preserve transparency and permeability at Dr . Penfield level
• Establish an additional link between the top and bottom of the campus
• Structure the slope left in the wasteland
• Ensure a significant plant presence on the site
• Strengthen the specific character of McGill by using Trenton limestones
• Promote integration by respecting existing alignments and templates
The solution chosen is a glass pavilion on a limestone podium in alignment with the facades adjacent to the location of the disappeared greenhouses . A gazebo , under the extension of the roof , separates it from the Ferrier building and an external staircase leads to the lower level of the campus . Under this
pavilion , a ventilation plenum allows the entry through the floor of the large amount of new air required while concealing the steam pipes connecting the Wong pavilion to the Ferrier Pavilion . The cantilevered overhang at the rear has vent grilles at the underside of the floor .
The roofs are vegetated due to the low height of the building which exposes these surfaces to the view all over the south flank of Mount Royal and from surrounding buildings . For the roof surfaces and walls covered with metal panels , environmental problems related to lead discouraged us from using the tinned copper present on the Wong building and led us to propose a fluoropolymer paint baked on an aluminum panel to harmonize with the shade of the neighbor .
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