Montreal’s Pelletier de Fontenay unveils an innovative botanical garden entrance pavilion which blends architecture with nature, enhancing visitor experience and site integration.
The New Entrance Pavilion for the Botanical Garden, created by the Montreal-based studio Pelletier de Fontenay, marks a pivotal moment alongside the revitalization of the Montreal Insectarium and Parc Maisonneuve’s entrance. The project reimagines and modernizes access to this iconic site, serving as a welcoming hub for visitors, facilitating ticketing, and providing essential information about both the Botanical Garden and Insectarium. Additionally, a separate check-in kiosk enhances visitor convenience.
In collaboration with landscape architects from Montreal’s Urban Parks Division and the firm Lemay, the design aims to seamlessly integrates Maisonneuve Park with the newly revamped Insectarium. Central to the project was the challenge of guiding visitors while respecting the site’s cultural heritage.
Inspired by the romantic notion of ruins in historic English gardens, Pelletier de Fontenay’s team envisioned the pavilion as a hybrid where architecture meets nature. Covered with vines that will attract insects, birds, and small animals, the structure mimics the harmony found in natural ecosystems.
Strategically positioned to be visible from Parc Maisonneuve and the Insectarium, the pavilion’s triangular layout not only serves as a focal point but also manages visitor flow. Its large, square-shaped roof with generous overhangs provides sheltered areas for gatherings or queues, enhancing the visitor experience regardless of weather conditions.
Designed to blur the boundary between indoors and outdoors, the pavilion features expansive sliding doors that open to the landscape, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the sights, sounds, and scents of the surroundings. This bioclimatic approach minimizes the need for heating or cooling for much of the year.
Constructed primarily from Corten steel, the pavilion’s monolithic appearance evolves over time as the material weathers and supports the growth of climbing plants. This intentional aging process aligns with the concept of architecture entering into a symbiotic relationship with nature, embodying the passage of time and the resilience of natural processes.
Overall, Pelletier de Fontenay’s design for the Botanical Garden’s Entrance Pavilion not only enhances practical aspects like visitor orientation and comfort but also celebrates the site’s natural beauty and historical context through innovative architectural expression.
Photo Courtesy: James Brittain
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