Montréal, October 5, 2009—The Ville de Montréal announced the names of the five teams selected as finalists in the competition to design the city’s new bus shelters, being organized in collaboration with the Société de transport de Montréal (STM). Over the next four years, the STM plans to have 400 new shelters built and installed all across its network, gradually replacing the current models and responding to new needs.
A total of 31 Québec design firms and consortiums submitted entries. The jury met on October 2 and, after studying all eligible entries, chose the following five finalists:
- Arium Design Inc. and Tak
- Godbout, Plante, Associés Enr.
- Leblanc + Turcotte + Spooner
- Messier Designers Inc.
- Morelli Designers and Signature Design Communication
The jury members
The co-chairs of the jury were Denise Vaillancourt, Executive Director, Planning, Marketing and Communications, STM, and Gilles Saucier, architect and Partner in the firm Saucier + Perrotte Architectes.
In addition to Ms. Vaillancourt and Mr. Saucier, the jury members included:
- Maurice Cloutier, ADIQ, environmental designer, Director, School of Design, UQÀM
- Michel Dallaire, industrial designer, President, Michel Dallaire Designers Inc.
- François Gagné, Team Lead, Planning and Urban Design Workshop, Urban Planning Division, Service de la mise en valeur du territoire et du patrimoine, Ville de Montréal
- Benoît Gendron, Director, Planning and Development, STM
- Marie Turcotte, adapted transport users’ representative, Board of Directors, STM
Next stage
In the second stage of the competition, the five finalists will develop a concept that meets the STM’s design requirements as well as its safety, accessibility, cleanliness and maintenance, and public-use standards. Each team will receive compensation of $15,000, as stipulated in the competition regulations. The jury’s assessment of the competitors’ concept developments will consider each design’s formal, functional and ecological quality, among other aspects, and how well it matches the technical and commercial criteria.
The bus shelter design competition stems from the commitments announced by the Mayor of Montréal at the Pecha Kucha Night for Elected Officials on September 30, 2008. It aims to provide tangible impetus for creativity in made-in-Montréal design and architecture and broaden access to public design commissions to include the largest possible number of practitioners.
The design competition is being administered by the Design Montréal office of the Ville de Montréal with the co-operation of the STM.
(Source: Ville de Montréal Press release - 05/10/09)