ACDF Architecture has unveiled Vivre, a former railyard and industrial sector remodeled into a 225-unit residential building, in Montreal?s Outremont neighborhood.

Photo credit: Adrien Williams
The firm was commissioned to design the 8-story apartment complex to help set a new tone for the neighbourhood, and to contribute to a new residential community emerging around the new campus of Université de Montréal.

Vivre is one of the first structures to be built along Thérèse Lavoie-Roux Street, paved across the old train yard and tracks to connect the neighbourhood with the new campus, as well as to Montreal?s Park Avenue.  
Photo credit: Adrien Williams
?We began by focusing on coherency in requalifying the industrial zone to ensure that we wouldn?t leave the district?s history and spirit behind, while finding ways to celebrate its industrial soul,? says ACDF President, Maxime-Alexis Frappier. ?That required a very different design approach from our projects in other parts of the city. We wanted to be certain that the building would fit comfortably into its unique context.? ACDF adopted the industrial footprint of the district?s historic buildings, typically designed as concrete structural grids, filled in with brick and glass according to their functional needs. In taking that approach, ACDF embarked on a contemporary reinterpretation inspired by the industrial language of the building?s surroundings.

Photo credit: Adrien Williams
Vivre took form as an exposed con...