Project Description:

McGill College Avenue sits at the heart of Montréal, linking Mount Royal to the St. Lawrence River and connecting the institutional core of McGill University with the commercial hub of Place Ville Marie. The redevelopment reimagines the avenue as an elongated piece of Mount Royal extended into downtown — an esplanade that blends nature, culture, and public life.

The design introduces a generous tree-lined promenade framed by public art, terraces, and performance spaces, with views of Mount Royal revealed like a living painting. At its centre runs an ephemeral stream, capturing rainwater and snowmelt while carving out social clearings, four-season lounges, and playful encounters with water, mist, and fire. A continuous bench threads the avenue together, stitching social pockets between the Grand Foyer, the Jardin des Pins, and the Jardin d’O.

The avenue is designed to be seasonally alive. In winter, the Grand Foyer becomes a collective hearth with a ring of fire, transforming into an amphitheatre and water feature in warmer months. In summer, mist fountains cool the esplanade, making it a resilient and comfortable environment throughout the year. Granite paving, patterned to evoke water’s journey from mountain to river, balances absorption and reflection to create microclimates along the promenade.

Beyond seasonal attraction, the project establishes a genuine urban forest in the hyper-centre. Nearly 200 trees and a layered planting strategy recreate four forest biomes, restoring ecological niches for biodiversity. Pebble-like urban furniture and textured elements provide micro-habitats for wildlife, integrating urban life with ecological cycles.

As part of the transformation, a new cultural landmark — Place Oscar Peterson — will commemorate the legendary jazz musician through sculpture, mural, and lighting, reinforcing the avenue as a space of civic memory and cultural identity.