McGill College: An Avenue Reinvented International Multidisciplinary Urban Design Competition
The Ville de Montréal is launching an international multidisciplinary urban design competition for the development of Place de l’Avenue McGill College.
This public square will be created by pedestrianizing Avenue McGill College over its full length, comprising four sections, from Rue Cathcart to Rue Sherbrooke Ouest.
Objective of the competition
The aim of the competition is to select a spatial design concept for the entirety of Place de l’Avenue McGill College. The concept must meet and even surpass the City’s expectations regarding the challenges posed by the Project that is the subject of the competition, and which are described in the Competition Program. At the end of the competition, the jury will select and recommend a winner and, subject to approval by the relevant municipal authorities, the City will award the winner a contract to provide the professional services required to complete the project.
Those professional services include:
- For Phases 1 and 2, finalization of the overall design and construction plan;
- For Phase 1 (between Rue Cathcart and Boulevard De Maisonneuve Ouest), finalizing the design, preparing the plans and estimates, and providing technical assistance during the construction work for the surface redesign and upgrading of underground infrastructures; and
- For Phase 2 (between Boulevard De Maisonneuve Ouest and Rue Sherbrooke Ouest), providing guidance to the City on the detailed design and implementation.
The construction budget for design and construction plus underground infrastructures for Phase 1 of the Project (between Rue Cathcart and Boulevard De Maisonneuve Ouest) is $16,120,110 excluding taxes, inflation as well as the design and construction provision amounts.
For information purposes, and to enable the competitors and finalists to develop an overall concept encompassing the four sections of the avenue, the construction budget for design and construction plus underground infrastructures for Phase 2 (between Boulevard De Maisonneuve Ouest and Rue Sherbrooke Ouest) is $13,749,733 excluding taxes, inflation as well as the design and construction provision amounts.
Type of competition
This competition is:
- A multidisciplinary urban design competition;
- International in scope;
- Held in three stages: the first involving anonymous proposals; the second involving service offerings submitted by a maximum of five finalists chosen after the first stage by the jury; and the third involving complementary service offerings submitted by two grand finalists chosen after the second stage by the jury.;
- A project competition leading to a contract to execute the project.
Stage 1
All competitors are invited to submit their anonymous proposal, presenting an overall idea of the project aspirations in accordance with the objectives of the competition.
The jury will retain a maximum of five proposals. This first stage is anonymous and unpaid.
Stage 2
The finalists attend an information meeting, and are then invited to expand upon their idea and present their service offering to the jury at a public hearing. At the end of this stage, which is paid, the jury will either recommend one winner and one runner-up, or select two grand finalists to proceed to a third stage.
Stage 3 (optional)
Upon request by the jury, the grand finalists will be invited to submit their complementary service offering, addressing the concerns expressed by the jury. At the end of this stage, which is paid, the jury will select and recommend to the city on winner and one runner-up.
Eligibility
Stage 1 / Proposal
Any team or firm that meets the following conditions is eligible to enter Stage 1:
- Consisting of at least two designers including a lead designer who has been a member of a professional order or association in the field of architecture or landscape architecture for more than five years OR is a graduate of a university program leading to the design or completion of development projects on public land and has at least ten years’ professional experience in similar projects.
Stage 2 / Service Offering
Any team or firm that meets, at a minimum, the eligibility conditions for Stage 1 and, at the time it submits its team complement dossier, comprises, at a minimum, the following persons is eligible to continue on to Stage 2:
- A co-ordinator who:
- has been a certified member of a professional order or association in the field of architecture or landscape architecture for more than 10 years, and is authorized to practise their profession in Québec under the applicable laws, as the case may be; AND
- has completed at least one spatial design project on public land worth at least $10 million in construction costs, or three spatial design projects on public land worth at least $5 million each in construction costs, said costs being expressed in 2019 Canadian dollars.
- The co-ordinator of the team (after it has been declared the winner) must be present in Québec for the duration of the project.
- At least one landscape architect who has been a certified member of the AAPQ or a member in good standing of a professional order or association in the field of landscape architecture for at least five years OR a university graduate in landscape architecture having obtained their degree at least 10 years ago.
- At least one civil engineer who has been a member of a provincial or national order of engineers for at least 10 years and is authorized to practice the profession of engineer in Québec under the applicable laws. The civil engineer on the team (after it has been declared the winner) must be present in Québec for the duration of Phase 1 of the project.
Both the co-ordinator’s and the civil engineer’s firms must hold authorization to enter into contracts from the Autorité des marchés publics (AMP) OR provide proof that they have submitted an application for such authorization to the AMP at the time the team complement dossier is submitted.
The Ville de Montréal encourages the formation of multidisciplinary teams (comprising a biologist or forestry engineer, mechanical engineer, structural engineer, electrical engineer, expert hydrologist, lighting designer etc.).
Complete information regarding eligibility may be found in the Competition Rules, on the SEAO website.
Jury
The jury is the same for all stages of the competition, and comprises the following individuals:
- Sébastien Deshaies, engineer, Section Chief, Engineering Project Design and Execution, Service des infrastructures et du réseau routier, Division des grands projets, Ville de Montréal
- Mélanie Glorieux, landscape architect, Partner, Groupe Rousseau Lefebvre, Montréal
- Olivier Philippe, landscape architect, Founding Partner, Agence Ter, Paris
- Christiane Rail, architect, Section Head, Projet de la rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, Service de l’urbanisme et de la mobilité, Ville de Montréal
- Lola Sheppard, architect and Partner, Lateral Office, Toronto
- Christian Bissonnette, Associate Director, Direction des travaux publics, Arrondissement de Ville-Marie, Ville de Montréal
- Nik Luka, associate professor, School of Urban Planning and School of Architecture, McGill University, Montréal
- Cécile Baird, architect and urban designer, Montréal
Compensation
Competitors (Stage 1)
No fees or allowances will be paid at this stage of the competition.
Finalists (Stage 2)
Each finalist who presents a service offering deemed compliant with the Rules will receive a lump sum of $84,000, taxes included.
Grand Finalists (Stage 3 – optional)
Each grand finalist who, at the request of the jury, presents a complementary service offering that is deemed compliant with the Rules will receive an additional lump sum of $7,000, taxes included.
Winner
The maximum amount budgeted for the professional fees to be paid to the winner is $2,811,692, excluding taxes, and provisions (including the fees paid for Stages 2 and 3).
Documents and registration
Interested competitors must obtain the competition documents through the website of the Système électronique d’appel d’offres SEAO (prior registration is required to do so). The documents will be available from October 30 to December 19, 2019.
Submission location and deadline
Competitors’ or finalists’ complete proposal or service offering dossiers must be received by the following dates at the address below:
Stage 1 / Anonymous proposals
Thursday, December 19, 2019, noon Eastern Time
Stage 2 / Finalists’ service offerings
Friday, April 24, 2020, noon Eastern Time
Stage 3 / Grand finalists’ complementary service offerings
Tuesday, June 16, 2020, noon Eastern Time
Submission address
McGill College : l’avenue réinventée
Concours international de design urbain pluridisciplinaire
700, rue De la Gauchetière Ouest, 28e étage
Montréal (Québec) H3B 5M2
Canada
Information
All communications must be e-mailed to the professional consultant at: concours.mcgillcollege@gmail.com.
This competition is being held in compliance with the proposed Règlement type pour un concours d’architecture, pluridisciplinaire ou de design de la Ville de Montréal (Model rules for an architectural, multidisciplinary, or design competition sponsored by the Ville de Montréal) and has been approved by the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation (MAMH).
Avenue McGill College
