Place Ville Marie is located in the heart of Montreal, on Boulevard René-Lévesque. An underground shopping and food center extends directly in front of the skyscraper of the same name. In 2018, the space was redesigned to transform it into a popular meeting place for Montreal’s citizens.
As part of the revitalization, a new entrance pavilion was built on Place Ville Marie for the mall below. At 42m x 15m, the roof construction of the pavilion is Canada’s largest all-glass roof structure. It provides an unobstructed view of the underground area from above, as well as an unobstructed view of the sky, especially for restaurant patrons.
Sid Lee Architecture and Menkès Shooner Dagenais Létourneux Architectes planned the 600sqm all-glass roof made from just 18 insulating glass panels: each of the panels measures 2.5m x 15m. The total weight of the structure is almost 88 metric tons and is supported by 17 laminated glass beams. The corbels supporting the beams have been cleverly embedded into the wall so that maximum visual transparency is achieved. Another eye-catching feature is the two entrance canopies cantilevered 4.2m beyond the facade and supported by 14-ply laminates.
