Pointe-Aux-Silos
A Redevelopment Proposal for the Wellington Basin
By: Megan Albinger, Christian Binette, Simon Chauvette, Gabriel Damant-Sirois, Vincent-Charles Hodder
McGill University School of Urban Planning
Studio 2
Winter 2013
Pointe-Aux-Silos is a dynamic plan for the Wellington Basin that capitalizes on the on the site’s proximity to downtown Montréal, and preserves its historical character as a piece of the cradle of industry that once abutted the Lachine Canal. Connections to neighbouring Griffintown and to the thriving downtown core are enhanced with the construction of a footbridge over the canal and a pedestrian tunnel under the railway line.
Guiding Principles 
Our six guiding principles – water, social equity, industrial heritage, human scale, cultural corridor and employment – have inspired a plan that will create value for investors. Building off of the creative corridor, studio space in a beautifully restored industrial building will attract artists who will contribute to the exciting character of the new neighbourhood. Our housing portfolio offers a variety of options catering both to young urban professionals moving in the area, and families currently moving out of the island. The signature Wellington Basin and restored Tate Park will recall the industrial heritage of the site and extend the consciousness of water as a crucial element of the neighbourhood’s image. Environmental best practices, like bio-retention ponds and sidewalk rain gardens, promise to also reduce the costs of water management.
A sensible financial strategy and a respectable return on investment (33%) are central to the Pointe-Aux-Silos Redevelopment Plan. In order to minimize risks, it adopts a phased approach. Flexibility in the timing of each phase, guaranteed by the multiplicity of residential and employment uses, is an obvious advantage. Furthermore, including 22% affordable and 15% social housing minimizes the risk of opposition to the plan from surrounding residents.
All this is achieved in a walkable and human scale development that will open an exciting new chapter in the area’s history.
MasterPlan
Perspective: Park Wellington
Perspective: Neighbourhood Park
