De Bord en Bord

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De Bord en Bord

Firm

TrayStudio

Type

Landscape + Planning › Public Park Masterplan

STATUS

Concept

SIZE

300,000 sqft - 500,000 sqft

BUDGET

Undisclosed

“De Bord en bord’ is an attempt to soften the hard infrastructural edges of injustice that have devasted Beauport’s wetlands and hindered the physical and socio-economic mobility of residents of Quebec City in accessing its natural resources. The project aims to reconnect the urban fabric of the city to its waterfront by reframing its divisive Dufferin Montmorency freeway as an ecological corridor and an urban common that allows its citizens to reclaim their right to the river.

Spanning 11km from Port Beauport to Montmorency Falls, the ecological corridor is characterized by expansive landscapes and green highway buffers. Central to this transformation are the “lines of opportunity”, repurposed infrastructures that once cleaved communities, now reimagined as conduits of unity. The existing railway infrastructure, is envisioned as a suburban commuter rail, connecting downtown to the newly developed waterfront edge. Route 138 is reactivated with reduced vehicle carriageways interspersed with pedestrian boulevards and bike paths. At strategic junctures where Dufferin Montmorency passes through residential neighbourhoods, the freeway is capped as a land bridge park offering a quilt of amenities from amphitheatres to community gardens that cool the microclimate and invites moments of play, rest and community gathering. The corridor is integrated with soft-edge wetlands acting as a resilient and absorbent sponge that embraces water and prevents runoff from the impervious roadway infrastructure.

The project is deeply interwoven with the historical and cultural tapestry of Quebec City, and Beauport is a great example of this. Historically used as a port facility, its industrial past is remediated through stormwater retention ponds, rain gardens, bio-swales, and permeable pavers, knitting history with ecology into a reparative corridor. This past and present interplay is mirrored in the preserving and retrofitting of industrial relics, tanks and machinery reimagined as historical monuments, evoking memory and nostalgia of Quebec City’s past identity.

This vision extends to the residential realms where the proposed riverfront corridor, utilizes the potential of vacant industrial land into mixed-use spaces marked by affordable housing, business development and cultural expression all anchored by a public spine of market and retail spaces that not only serve as an economic catalyst but an extension of community life, connecting the existing historical trail to the water’s edge.

“De Bord en bord” is a homage to the spirit of Quebec City and its people, a celebration of the right to water, to the city and to its rich history and culture. It is a forward-looking embrace, rooted in the wisdom of the past, that seeks to give back land to its people, crafting a legacy of connection, resilience and heartfelt belonging.

Credit: Oliver Shi, Celina Abba, Mengyu Zhao, Tanushri Dalmiya