Please take a stroll

What if “Reimagining the shopping street” of Notre-Dame meant reconnecting with the spirit of the Lachine village, redefining the relationship to time, and occupying the shopping square differently? We want to create a permanent street, where everyone will be asked to stroll. “Building bridges” is the major challenge for the creation of a warm socio-resilient atmosphere where everyone will enjoy sitting down to breathe, meet and share their neighborhood. Like a crossing bridge, artistic structures on the street, proposed to be co-constructed, will be seen in the distance and will act as key elements.

Zaraté + Lavigne and En temps et lieu, in collaboration with Tristan Morissette and Greg Nowark are one of the three winning teams in the urban design ideas competition for the redevelopment of rue Notre -Lady in Lachine. The resulting results will lay the groundwork for the consultation process on the future of rue Notre-Dame and downtown Lachine, provide tools that will improve the development program for the targeted portion of rue Notre-Dame -Lady between 6th and 18th avenues. In the wake of reflections on the major changes linked to commercial activities, and more broadly to retail, the competition aims to produce creative and resilient solutions at the neighborhood level. In its “Thank you for strolling” proposal, the team stood out for its conceptual quality and its innovative environmental solutions, including the development of a water management system. This framework, where water can flow freely and where bridges strengthen ties, is punctuated by bicycle parks, bus stops, a few parking spaces for food picking, and above all spacious sidewalks. The general configuration of the public space will be arranged with nature in the city. The sidewalks will be bioretention basins and urban vegetable gardens that will transform the street into an oasis. In addition, a one-way from west to east will be dedicated mainly to public transport and pedestrians; cars will be able to circulate there at a speed of 20 km/h and thus promote the “making of its bridges”, between the various axes of strolling and shopping, tourism and meeting spaces on a daily basis and during of events.

In its concept, the team was able to combine fun with the history of the urban sector, currently in full transformation. The construction of bridges has been a guarantee of economic growth in Lachine with the Dominium Bridge Company for more than a century. The team paid homage to the industrial past by reusing materials for the various installations along the artery. She also integrated the symbol of the bridges in order to reveal an important part of the identity of the place. Citizens are reclaiming urban spaces for sociability, designed to “build bridges” between shopping areas, the street and residential areas. Wander is the proposed new watchword. The contribution that the two firms (ZL+ETEL) made was an opportunity to strengthen their partnership links as well as their related strengths in urban analysis and design. The idea proposal was realized in team co-creation. Zaraté Lavigne was in charge of producing the diagrams and concept plans.

Presentation in French:

Transformation and enhancement of the vocation of the artery

Conceptual plan of a portion of the street

Schematic section of the street

Detail of bio water retention system

Creation of new signature furniture by recovering materials from the old factory

Concept plan and usage zones: obstacle-free area – shopping terrace area – strolling area