In 2009 Allied Works was selected to participate in an international competition to design a new building for the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.
The MNBAQ is composed of a cluster of pavillions set in a park: a stately neoclassical building and an adaptive reuse of an 19th century prison with a guggi flying saucer entrance uniting the two by way of a tunnel. The purpose of the competition was to streamline the circulation and create new spaces for art and people. Most importantly however, the institution wanted to assert a bold presence on the Grande Allee that expresses their modernity. They wanted something sophisticated.