Atelier Big City, Cimaise win competition for children鈥檚 theatre in Sherbrooke
[from , 15 October 2018:]
Montreal architects Atelier Big City (principals Howard Davies [Clifford C.F. Wong Professor of Practice], Randy Cohen, and Anne Cormier [all B.Arch. 1982]) and Cimaise have won a competition to design the new 鈥淟ieu de diffusion sp茅cialis茅 danse, th茅芒tre pour l鈥檈nfance et la jeunesse de Sherbrooke鈥� in Quebec. The new children鈥檚 theatre will be located in the historic centre of Sherbrooke, a major city of 140,000 people located approximately 160 kilometres to the east of Montreal.
The 1,700 sq-metre theatre will be a key part of the revitalization of Wellington Street, Sherbrooke鈥檚 main shopping and commercial artery. The new theatre is seen as a welcoming pavilion, which aims to be both aesthetically distinct and in dialogue with the existing CAsJB Building, which was designed by Montreal鈥檚 Saucier + Perrotte Architectes.
In Atelier Big City and Cimaise鈥檚 winning design, the physical connection between the two pavilions is kept to a minimum so as to respect both as separate identities and in order to minimize the impact of construction on the CAsJB. Both buildings will also have separate addresses and animate a new public space adjacent to Wellington Street. This exterior plaza will extend the foyer of the Children鈥檚 Theatre outwards, providing a new space for outdoor performances, children鈥檚 play and other events.
Atelier Big City forms part of a winning design-build consortium for the project, which also includes architects Cimaise, as well as Pageau Morel et associ茅s, Groupe EGP (principal Tom Egli, a course lecturer at the School), and Vinci Consultants.
A closer look at the Atelier Big City and Cimaise design concept can be found .