Bringing citizens closer together in a context of distancing

Client

City of Montréal - Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough

Location

Promenade Ontario

Year

2020

Services

Urban furniture, tactical urbanism

Awards

In the summer of 2020, in a pandemic context, Ontario East street was closed to automobile traffic to revitalize the commercial artery and revive the neighbourhood after a spring of confinement.

Giving public space back to citizens amid a pandemic

Libres cours on Ontario! aims to create a place of meeting and escape at the service of the population and merchants to create an inclusive and safe space, conducive to socialization despite the context of physical distancing. To improve this pedestrianization experience, the borough collaborated with City of Montréal’s Bureau du design, NIPpaysage, ATOMIC3, Paprika and PXP to deploy a concept including furniture, marking and display.

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“For us, the pedestrianization of Ontario Street is literally the difference between a possible bankruptcy and a good summer. Overnight, we had to do 360 degrees and become a restaurant. Being able to set up tables outside thanks to pedestrianization had a huge impact.” - owner of the Blind Pig Brewery, Antoine Ormandy

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Enabling distancing in a meeting place

Renewing the dialogue between merchants and citizens by creating an inclusive and safe place to socialize for the neighbourhood.

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“Let me tell you how happy I am when I walk around Ontario and I see the street busy and crowded with people. This contrasts with the state she was in after suffering the repercussions of the confinement. This festive and unifying layout gives Ontario Street the dose of love it needed” - Pierre Lessard-Blais, mayor of the borough.

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Reusable furniture

The equipment had to be easy to dismantle and store in order to be reused in the following years.

An agile and flexible solution

With a 4-week deadline to design and build the project, we quickly realized that we wouldn’t have all the answers. We had to adapt quickly by listening to feedback from the users and the merchants.

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