“Link” is a 19-story contemporary apartment tower in the Shaughnessy Village neighborhood of Montreal, Quebec. Designed by Canadian architectural firm ACDF Architecture, Link meets a growing demand for student housing, while its architecture celebrates the built heritage of its location. Link’s design incorporates the existing facades of three Victorian dwellings and creates a dialogue with the adjacent mid-century concrete buildings. The tower’s facade evokes memories of Montreal’s inviting Victorian homes.
Shaughnessy Village was at one time distinguished by the presence of Victorian-style buildings, many of which were demolished and replaced by grey concrete towers. One of the last vestiges of the neighborhood’s Victorian past was found in three old building’s in a state of disrepair. The developers had initially envisaged a complete demolition of the three buildings. However, ACDF Architecture made a decision to celebrate their architectural heritage: rather than simply demolishing the buildings, the studio chose to preserve them as much as possible, providing a “link” with the public realm and Shaughnessy Village’s historical memory. “Montreal is designated as a UNESCO Design City, with a strong focus on architecture that interacts with the public realm,” says ACDF President Maxime-Alexis Frappier.
Following a series of studies to demonstrate the technical and financial viability of a complete or partial rehabilitation of the buildings, ACDF reached the conclusion that only the facades could be preserved. Faced with a dilemma, the studio questioned: “Did preserving only the facades mean the project would be part of a so-called Facadism approach and denounced by the community? Would complete demolition, justified by the dilapidated state of the buildings, be a more appropriate intellectual and professional posture?” ACDF opted to retain the facades, reasoning that architecture enthusiasts, residents, and passers-by would prefer to see a partial preservation and nod to the past. Moreover, rehabilitating buildings in this manner can have a positive return on investment for developers.
“The tower is positioned well back from the existing facades, so as to preserve the original building templates,” says ACDF. The studio crafted a unique architectural expression for Link tower, explaining: “The result of a quilt-like assembly of various reinterpreted dormers, the tower's facade acts as a pictorial tableau celebrating the area's rich history.” ACDF placed a series of gabled, low-arch, and rectangular apertures side by side, creating an animated composition that enlivens the urban space and whose shapes allude to the Victorian facades at the tower’s base.
The tower’s black granite frame protrudes slightly, enhancing the composition's pictorial form; the mineral quality of the precast concrete envelope pays homage to the neighboring 1960s concrete buildings.
To reduce the project’s per capita construction and operating costs in favor of the tower’s student residents, ACDF proposed compact — but adequately configured — apartments with narrow rooms, maximizing “the proportional ratio between the surface area of the exterior envelope and the interior living spaces.” Windows correspond to a bedroom or living space, either with or without a balcony.
Link consists of 122 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments spread across 19 floors as well as a roof terrace, gym, lobby lounge, and common areas.
The tower’s main entrance is located in the middle of the three rehabilitated heritage facades — the clean, uncluttered entrance hall utilizes materials with metallic features to create an inviting play of light and reflections. Residential units behind the other two facades are accessed via the restored exterior staircases.
A contributive project on a human scale, Link is a building whose design seeks to enliven the pedestrian space. “By fusing past and present architectural styles, the Link project embodies an approach to development that is sensitive to its urban environment,” says ACDF. The studio hopes that Link will contribute to the promotion of heritage architecture among developers.
