The materials were deliberately kept to a
minimum of three. Stone is everywhere
on the ground and gives the effect that
the basins were entirely excavated into
rock. IPE was used due to its resistance
to harsh weather and low maintenance.
It covers all the containers to soften
their impact and to remove the industrial
aspect that is intrinsic to them. The roofs
were all cladded with white painted
steel panels, bringing back that a light
industrial touch to the composition.
The idea behind the green roofs was to
integrate the project into its environment
and minimize heat gain. Although
synthetic turf was laid temporarily, the
impact of the green platforms views from
the top of the boat is impressive and
brings some discretion that piques our
curiosity. Everything was prefabricated
in a factory, disassembled and
reassembled on site. Over the mechanical
room, the roof becomes a waterfall that
drops directly into the pool.
The Bota Bota Gardens also feature
a radiant heated flooring system that
provides access all year long. This
pioneering geothermal radiant system
is powered by recovering energy from
the waste water from the boat added to
Credits
Name of the project: Bota Bota Gardens
Localisation: Montreal old port, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Client: Bota Bota (Daniel Émond et Geneviève Émond)
Architecture : MU Architecture (Jean-Sébastien Herr,
Charles Côté, Matthew Schmid, Sabrina Charbonneau)
Photos : Fany Ducharme
Consultants : Bota Bota :David Trinque, Shella-Eve Simard
GLT+, Project Managers: Jasmin Martel, Simon Poirier
Kanco Steel Structure : Daniel Gouin
Girard-Hébert, Swimming pool engineer: Pierre Girard
For more information: www.architecture-mu.com
water from the St. Lawrence River. A
highly engineered geothermal system
creates ice with the energy transferred
from the waste water. The energy created
in the process is used to heat water that
runs in the radiant floors and heats up
the different basins. A major challenge
was indeed to cover all these ducts, tanks
and machinery so as to present a surface
arc