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Saucier + Perrotte and Hughes Condon Marler Architects have been announced as winners of an architecture competition to design a new football centre at the Saint-Michel Environmental Complex (SMEC) in Montreal. Located on the site of a former quarry, the soccer complex incorporates a single full-size pitch which can be divided into a number of smaller pitches for five- or seven-a-side, a fitness and physiotherapy room, locker rooms, event and restaurant facilities, and family rest area.
The SMRC Park features a cluster of trees on a wooded embankment which offer a human scale to the new facility in its grounds, the architects explaining that ‘the volumes of the building will rise like a series of luminous crystals among the trees’. A wooden roof will rest on a shimmering glass envelope, overhanging a base that is targeting LEED-NC Gold certification to fall in line with Montreal’s policy on sustainable development for municipal buildings. The Ville de Montreal is funding $15.6m of the full $28.3m cost, with the remainder made up by the governments of Canada and Quebec.
Ville de Montreal Executive Committee Member, Manon Barbe, who is responsible for Sports and Recreation, commented: “Soccer is constantly growing in popularity in the province of Quebec as well as in Montreal, where there are more than 40,000 competitive players. The indoor soccer centre therefore fills a real need. Soccer is an accessible sport, and with the new facility it will remain so year-round.” The Mayor of Montreal, Gerald Tremblay, stated: “This public building, a testament to the talent of our local architects, will be incorporated into the SMEC, one of the largest parks in Montreal.”