Tulip – Your Place at The Table | ADHOC architectes | World Design Awards 2021

ADHOC architectes: Winner of World Design Awards 2021. The project was designed in collaboration with graphic designers Maude Lescarbeau and Camille Blais. The colourful installation was conceived to safely accommodate and attract citizens currently reappropriating downtown Montreal after several weeks of confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The layout is designed to offer a space to promenade or to sit and relax while respecting current sanitation and social distancing norms.

The initial mandate from the Partenariat du Quartier des Spectacles was to produce an artistic installation that would attract and stimulate traffic in the Quartier des Spectacles while maintaining social distancing measures. The TULIP -les Terrasses Urbaines LIbres au Public-, is a public amenities space that works in synergy with the supply of local commerces, cultural and touristic attractions. They encourage people to take advantage of the pleasant summer and fall weather and rediscover their city. The team from ADHOC architectes was given the mandate to revisit the award-winning Hydro-Quebec park designed by Claude Cormier et Associés (2008-2012). ADHOC architectes added a social component to the 3260m2 site by transforming it into a new urban terrasse.

A 100 meter (300 feet) long “urban table” was precisely implanted between the existing furniture and trees that puncture the elevated, angular metal grill in the center of the site. The table undulates under the canopy of the trees, leaving visitors to discover a succession of staged place settings and varied atmospheres. An enhanced, friendly and safe experience, vibrant custom graphic signage and enchanting lighting brightens up this usually quite shady environment, creating a welcoming atmosphere during the day and night. The colour yellow is thus celebrated in this tone on tone installation. This festive, joyous and luminous colour palette attracts stares from passers-by and introduces a sharper contrast with the monochromatic shades of the existing park. A truly colorful and vivacious oasis in the heart of downtown Montreal, the installation invites curiosity and discovery.

A large structure and graphic arrow placed at the entrance of the park signals the beginning of the project. The public is then invited to discover the full length of the table. Various place settings are separated by eclectic collections of recycled objects. These iconic, gastronomic objects were judiciously placed to subtly foster intuitive social distancing.

The redesigned space proposes 80 seats and encourages the direct support of 22 local restaurants reopening in the Food Market of Le Central.

In conclusion, the project encourages us to imagine a new way of sharing a moment collectively and safely at the same table. Experience the art of the table, an attraction marrying local culinary offerings with the unique attractions of the Quartier des Spectacles. Your Place at the Table: a moment of reprieve, to eat and drink, day or night, sitting or standing, between friends or alone, as a couple or a family. Welcome!

Project Details
Firm
ADHOC architectes

Project Name
Tulip – Your Place at The Table

Architect/Designer
Jean-François

World Design Awards Category
Pop-Ups & Temporary Structure Built

Project Location
Montreal

Graphic Designers
Maude P. Lescarbeau & Camille Blais

Clients
Partenariat du Quartier des Spectacle (PQDS)

Carpentry And Woodworking
Le Madrier (Meven Valy & Timothée Combes)

Printing
Umake (Marco Facciola)

Area
3260 m2

Year
Summer to Fall, 2020

Team
Jean-François St-Onge, François Martineau, Marie-Andrée Groleau, Olivia Pavlenyi, Francis Alphonso, Maude P. Lescarbeau, Camille Blais

Country
Canada

Photography ©Credit
©Raphael Thibodeau

Adhoc, is a Latin phrase meaning “for this“; Designed for a specific request, a situation, a problem to be solved, an opportunity to be seized. 

ADHOC architectes is a studio founded in 2014 by two architects with different personalities and a common vision of creating meaningful architecture through good design. The studio’s mission is to provide innovative architectural solutions which challenge the established conformity. An ADHOC-project must be memorable, inspiring, distinctive, aesthetic and functional.

ADHOC architectes aims to highlight the intrinsic elements of places and enhances them through innovative, contextual and poetic architecture