ARCHITECTURAL FOCUS
LUMINOUS EXPANSION FOR HÔPITAL DU SACRÉ-CŒUR- DE-MONTRÉAL
A CONTEMPORARY ADDITION THAT SENSITIVELY REINTERPRETS HÔPITAL DU SACRÉ-CŒUR-DE-MONTRÉAL ’ S HISTORIC BUILDING , EQUIPPING THE CENTURY-OLD HOSPITAL AS ONE OF THE MOST ADVANCED AND CUTTING-EDGE IN MONTRÉAL
Located on Gouin Boulevard in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough , Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur-de-Montréal ( HSCM ) was first completed in 1927 and functioned as a sanitorium . Almost a century later , the hospital is now one of Montréal ’ s major ambulatory care centres , a highly specialized trauma centre , and a critical part of its healthcare infrastructure .
But , despite its prominence , its facilities suffered from decades of dilapidation . Over time , its physical and functional deficiencies impeded the hospital from delivering on its mission .
To solve this , the hospital commissioned architects ’ Provencher _ Roy and Yelle Maillé to design an expansion that would complement the heritage structure while creating cutting-edge spaces for healthcare . The design brings an L-shaped new wing that houses an integrated trauma centre , a mother-child unit , endoscopy and cardiology departments , and a medical device reprocessing unit . The addition is meticulously integrated with the existing facilities , expanding them while maintaining the sense of a single , unified hospital facility .
Patient treatment areas occupy the upper floors of the volume , clad with a curtain wall punctuated by vertical bands of a masonry block that relate to the historic hospital building and provide a sense of rhythm across the facade . These areas appear to float above the glass-enclosed lower levels , where waiting rooms , lounges , cafes , and other semi-public areas enjoy sweeping views over the grounds and the original building . The design maximizes natural light and views of nature at every turn , resulting in a calm , comfortable , and non-institutional patient experience .
THE THERAPEUTIC VALUE OF SUNLIGHT
The addition leverages one of the site ’ s distinctive advantages — its bucolic setting and access to natural light . First built as a sanitorium , the hospital was originally sited and designed to take advantage of sunlight as a fundamental component of patient treatment .
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