© Provencher_Roy / Stéphane Brügger
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The Montreal Tower, one of the Montreal’s Architectural symbol and a part of the Parc Olympique was designed by architect Roger Taillibert. The tower is 175 meter tall and angled at 45 degrees. This is the world’s tallest inclined tower. The curved back of the tower has a funicular used by the visitors, to reach the observation deck at the top of the structure which offers views of the city and the Mount Royal Mountains. The tower was built to be utilized as training gyms but it has been vacant for 30 years.
The tower that has been vacant since 1987 is taken as Office space by the Desjardins, they are the first tenants of this tower for the next 15 years. The design work of this office space is carried out by Provencher Roy. Seven of the twelve floors of this tower are occupied by Desjardins call and administrative centers, which represents 80% of the rental space available in the tower.
As the original purpose of the tower designed by architect Roger Taillibert was to house the sport gyms, the outside of the tower structure was installed with massive prefab concrete panels during construction, which allowed vertical striped openings on each floor sufficient for natural lighting. The Olympic park initiated the renovation of the tower in 2015. The design had to be redeveloped as per the space requirements of the new tenants, many of the Desjardins Group team. The existing prefabricated concrete envelope was replaced with a curtain wall, a logical solution provided by Provencher Roy. This flooded the office spaces with natural light and abundant transparency (Paying respect to the original architecture)
The thousand of the Desjardins employees now enjoy the workspaces bathed in natural light. This was achieved by renovating most of the Montreal Tower’s mechanical system to match the code and standards. However, the greatest challenge was undoubtedly the removing of the tower’s prefabricated concrete panels to make way for the transparency afforded by a glass curtain wall covering 60% of the facade—a fundamental component in creating a congenial work atmosphere. Besides disclosing the remarkable structure of the architectural icon, the approach also brings the tower to life and gives it a new energy.
The new structure of the Montreal Tower was unveiled to the entire world after 30 years of concealed existence.
