Built completely underground, the project is free of all formal constraints, thus shifting the emphasis to experiencing the space. The space is centered around a spiral ramp directly accessible from the entrance and forming a scenographic trail with Québec history as its narrative. A fresco depicts the milestones of the latter through a series of images that evoke notions of community and citizenship. These images are veritable sculptures whose presence is revealed by the illumination of panels that have perforations of varying depth. Moreover, the ramp as well as the peripheral panels play a technical role: the first serves as a structural fulcrum, while the panels conceal services and enable air circulation via the deeper perforations.

The ramp is the project’s centerpiece and a metaphor for direct, universal access to Québec’s contemporary democracy, expressed through a gentle slope that is usable by everyone, regardless of mobility level. Totalling 300 metres in length, the ramp delineates at its centre a circular space referred to as the “agora,” a place for gathering and for civic identity. As a shape, the circle evokes notions of neutrality, unity and equality, all values espoused by this space that is open to all and whose insertion at the base of the Parliament Building is a metaphor for these values as the very foundation of democracy. Open on all sides, the agora fosters encounter and dialogue, with several levels of engagement according to one’s position within the space. The oculus overhead provides generous illumination while framing the central tower of the National Assembly.

All the programs are organized around the ramp, which provides structure while guiding visitor circulation. Along the ramp, one finds spaces for reception, security and check-in, cloakrooms, multifunctional rooms and commission rooms, allowing the visitor to discover not only the evolution of our democracy, but also its functioning in real time, through windows and informative panels that offer an immersion into parliamentary debates. The interplay of the lighting and colour schemes imparts to the trail a museum-like quality, with tonal shifts from white to blue to red, a reference to the National Assembly’s Salon bleu and Salon rouge. A tunnel, housing Jonathan Villeneuve’s work Le Spectre des Lumière, leads to an elevator which provides access to the Parliament Building’s upper floors.

The insertion underground confers certain qualities to the project, including a development of programming elements that is free of constraints, as well as substantial savings in construction and maintenance costs (chiefly as a result of the diminished need for air conditioning in summertime and heating during the cold season). Further added value is found in the building’s energy profile, the absence of facade development translating into significant energy efficiency, as evidenced by the building’s LEED Silver certification. Nevertheless, the project’s initial concept constitutes its most sustainable gesture, namely the preservation of the existing structures and layouts in their entirety as a means of perpetuating history.