Project Description
Citation
On a flat parcel in Montreal, located between an urban thoroughfare and the historic Miron Quarry (which is now being converted to an ecology park), Saucier + Perrotte Architectes and Hughes Condon Marler Architects have designed a 136,000-square-foot enclosed soccer field, with an entrance hall, bleacher seating, training rooms, locker rooms, offices, and a café. Conceived as an added layer of mineral stratum recalling the site’s geology, the center features a continuous roof that cantilevers over the entrance plaza, folds down over the playing field, and then extends to the ground to seat spectators for a second, outdoor field. The highlight of the project is the laminated wood structure supporting the roof. Its crossing beams form a seemingly irrational lattice, but the structural grid is denser precisely over those zones where added strength is needed. The center’s sustainable aspects, including the use of geothermal energy in frigid Quebec, ultimately won the jury over. “And I like the idea of the roof folding into the grandstands,” juror Sasa Radulovic said. “This is a mundane program that usually results in a shed or prefabricated building, but somehow they figured out a different way.” —Vernon Mays