Redevelopment of Sainte-Catherine Street East, Le Village – 2025 Edition

Released to the public in 2025, the images and photographs represent a stage of design that is now outdated, as well as an alternative and speculative version of the permanent pedestrianization project for Sainte-Catherine Street East. Nevertheless, the reflection and design informed the project’s development work in 2026, which continues to pursue the objective of strengthening the commercial and cultural identity of the Village.

The uniqueness and signature of this edition are driven by a permanent and yearlong suspended light ceiling, designed as a striking and programmable urban chandelier. By day, the grid of reflective lenses creates a shimmering effect; by night, the light canvas offers evolving colorful compositions, including happenings when the pride flag appears across one kilometer. A full-scale prototype made it possible to document the architectural, structural, and light design and programming. On the ground, stretching from facade to facade, an arch-shaped terrazzo concrete pattern meanders along the entire length of the street. Echoing the draped lighting overhead, the material and pattern on the ground unify the public realm.

A generous tree canopy composed of 225 new trees is deployed across the entire section. Planted in grids and rain gardens, the layout ensures ecological stormwater management, enhances the climate comfort of pedestrians, and contributes to the environmental resilience of the whole area. The custom urban furniture is modular and weighted; distributed among the outdoor terraces in summer, it is easily recomposed into playful clusters to form winter lounges.

The overall design creates an immersive, legible, and resilient urban sequence where ceiling, ground, furniture, and landscape interact to form a unified composition, as well as the longest permanent pedestrian street in Quebec.