In the early 2000s, Atelier TAG won competitions to design the Châteauguay Library on Montreal?s south shore as well as the Théâtre du Vieux Terrebonne just north of the city. Both of the resulting buildings won Governor General?s Medals in Architecture. From that auspicious start, the studio has made a name for itself designing cultural institutions in Quebec. The latest in the series is the Gilles-Vigneault Performance Hall, a multipurpose arts venue in Saint-Jérôme, in the foothills of the Laurentian Mountains resort area north of Montreal. The theatre skilfully continues the evolution of Atelier TAG?s work, bringing together material experimentation, the use of structure to define space, and a desire to encourage social interactions through connections between interior and exterior spaces. A pleated cross-laminated timber canopy covers a grand stair extending from the public plaza to the theatre’s upper lobby.
The new venue allows performing arts producer Diffusion En Scène, who advanced the idea for the theatre 20 years ago, to finally own a space with the equipment to fulfill its mission as a major regional player. With funding secured from the city of Saint-Jérôme and Quebec?s Ministry of Culture, a competition was held in 2014 to design the building on a prominent site in the downtown area of Saint-Jérôme. The location is close to the cathedral, the local college and the former train station.
It also benefits from a section of the P?tit Train du Nord...