Coastal Revitalisation I Quebec, CA
with ONE Architecture
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Type: Competition - 2nd Prize Winner
Program: Urban Design & Revitalization
Location: Quebec, Canada
Calendar: 2024
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Re-AD Architecture and One Architecture & Urbanism radically reimagine a stretch of Québec City’s shoreline by proposing to remove highway infrastructure in their winning entry in the competition “Redevelopment of the St. Lawrence coastline – Phase 4,” organized by the Commission de la Capital Nationale de Québec. Their bold proposal revitalizes the now-isolated shoreline by reconnecting upland communities to the restored St. Lawrence River waterfront, and
integrating local micro-industries, with contemporary economic models, and ecological restoration.
The jury, led by the urbanist and landscape architect Bertrand Vignal, noted that their proposal, “envisions the elimination of the central portion of the highway in favor of a large green park, opening up the vast majority of the area between riverside neighborhoods and the river itself, a reconnection as strong as it is unexpected.”
It is no surprise that New York-based firms Re-AD and ONE would propose a bold response to the challenges that Québec City faces. Both cities are actively trying to reclaim a waterfront that was cut off from the broader urban fabric by the highway boom of the 60s. Back then the industrial waterfront along the district of Beauport was seen as a convenient location for a new eight-lane highway. Sixty years later, the two firms propose to decommission this now-underutilized infrastructure in order to reconnect Québec’s peri-urban areas to the city as a whole, creating space for natural habitat, recreation, and future expansion.
Their proposal balances the top-down approach of decommissioning infrastructure with bottom-up urban design proposals that invite local communities to participate in an organic takeover of the riverfront. This achieves multiple benefits, revitalizing the now-isolated shoreline by reconnecting upland communities to the restored natural St. Lawrence River waterfront and integrating local micro-industries, contemporary economic models, and ecological restoration.
ONE and Re-AD are proud to have been selected from a competitive pool of many strong ideas and to be recognized for our sensible and sensitive approach. “It's a bold gamble,” notes the jury comments, “and one that certainly merits investigation for its immense potential benefits.”
“We look forward to helping the government of Quebec to shape the future of their city and participating in the debate to reinvent its peri-urban coastline,” say Come Menage, Re-AD, and Mat Staudt, One Architecture & Urbanism.
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View the competition boards here, and watch the video of Bernard Vignal, President of the jury, commenting on the project here.