Provencher_Roy’s ambitious reimagining of Sainte-Catherine St. West is complete, turning what was a run-down and car-centered stretch of the storied Montréal street into a pedestrian hub that celebrates its history as the city’s main commercial drag. By transforming a four-lane road into a pedestrian-oriented one with a single lane of car traffic, the redesign creates a promenade stretching six blocks between De Bleury and Mansfield Streets where cars, cyclists, and pedestrians share the road. The promenade showcases the historic department stores along the stretch and knits the area into the surroundings. Phillips Square is expanded, making a new, green public hub for the city whose ambition is to transform Montréal into the greenest city center in North America. The new Sainte-Catherine St. West works in tandem with the redevelopment of the Quartier des Spectacles to the east and the planned redevelopment of blocks further to the west to create a cohesive and greener heart for the city.

▼项目概览，overall of the project

Shared Street

The plan eliminates street parking and drastically widens the sidewalks, flipping the proportion of space allocated to cars and pedestrians to turn it into a place for people. The new shared street creates a linear plaza that links the previously disjointed network of squares, monuments, and historic buildings into a cohesive urban landscape. Bronze plates set in the street serve as urban markers, identifying the grand turn-of-the-century department stores and commercial buildings that lend this area its storied heritage.

the plan eliminates street parking and drastically widens the sidewalks

Newly laid pavement features modular paving to mark different spaces and their uses. Ranging from dark grey to light grey, the paving informs pedestrians on the presence of the vehicular lane or the safe pedestrian zone. The changing colours emphasize which zones are exclusively for walking and which are shared with cars and cyclists, creating a safe environment while maintaining a cohesive and unified public space. To complement this, the plan also changes the density of tree plantings, grouping them closer together in quieter areas and spacing them apart in livelier ones. The pattern unifies the entire stretch as a single, cohesive promenade while creating a rhythm of intensity across it. The shared street also promotes sustainable mobility by encouraging walking and cycling, and enhances accessibility regardless of mobility status, allowing this beloved Montréal street to be enjoyed by all.

newly laid pavement features modular paving

New Urban Oasis: Phillips Square

The design also recenters Phillips Square as an integral part of the downtown core as envisioned in the 1841 Phillips Plan. A contemporary interpretation of the English Garden Square, the space is newly expanded thanks to wider sidewalks, lush plantings and open sightlines which offer picturesque views over the built environment and surrounding landscape. The monument to Edward VII erected in 1941 after a donation by Henry Birks is showcased with new up lighting, surrounded by integrated urban furniture and a programmable water feature.