This bold and distinguished project echoes two historic Montreal personalities: Mary Griffin, a prosperous businesswoman and property owner who shaped Griffintown’s predecessor, the Nazareth fief, and her husband Robert Griffin, owner of the district’s first house and first-ever bank teller for the Bank of Montreal. The project involves construction of a mixed-use complex at the intersection of Peel and Wellington Streets. This iconic location gives the project a resonance that will tangibly impact this entrance to Montreal, and positively enhance the Griffintown cityscape.
The two historical figures are embodied in the building’s morphology and composition.
The building’s distinctive silhouette consists of a two-storey basilica, from which two high-rise residential towers emerge. The complex also includes a large commercial space, an interior courtyard, two green roofs on the basilaire, a rooftop swimming pool on one tower and a reflecting pool on top of the other.
The ensemble draws together Montreal’s famous Mount Royal to the north and the picturesque Lachine Canal to the south.
This elegant concept is augmented by the relationship between the two towers: a play on the duality of light and shadow with its pale and dark shades, masculinity and femininity with its smooth, porous textures juxtaposed against organic, mineral surfaces. MaryRobert stands out in its neighbourhood and its city, with refined and restrained architecture that highlights Griffintown's ongoing transformation and its openness to the greater urban landscape.