16 Jul 2024
Place des Arts du Grand Sudbury (PdA) is the first multidisciplinary art centre of its kind in Northern Ontario. The cultural facility consists of seven member organizations and stands as an influential site of excellence for Sudbury, focused on French-Canadian culture and community empowerment. A collaborative endeavour on all fronts, Moriyama Teshima Architects (MTA) and Bélanger Salach Architecture (BSA) (previously: Yallowega Bélanger Salach Architecture) worked collaboratively as lead design architects. Through informed leadership, the two firms were together able to establish consensus among the seven strong voices to achieve a flexible design that provides services for a wide variety of activities and uses, while contributing to the surrounding urban context.
A unified home for individual arts organizations
The first facility of its kind, Place des Arts du Grand Sudbury (PdA) acts as a welcoming beacon for Sudbury’s Franco-Ontarian arts community, and as a consolidated home for its 7 founding members:
How the design vision was articulated
During the first stage of the project, PdA provided the architectural team with a manifesto, literary passages, references, and physical artefacts relevant to Sudbury, life in Northern Ontario, and Francophone culture. These resources gave rise to meaningful dialogue which clarified expectations and guided the design process. Key expectations identified included:
What the building had to accomplish through its design
The design needed to be daring and bold, marking its spot in downtown Sudbury, while also respecting and augmenting its context. It needed to reference the history of what had been, but also chart a new trajectory for these seven organizations, now converging under one roof. There was a desire to express concealed memories—to preserve them and share them with future generations. The building was conceived to not only represent a new beginning but also a continuation as the vessel for a new chapter in the collective Francophone cultural narrative. The intent was to appear new, while also appearing as though it has always been of its place.
What PdA offers for this Northern Ontario city
The building program includes a 300-seat theatre, a multi-use studio performance space, a contemporary art gallery, a library and national publishing house, a boutique, a bistro, a daycare, and offices. PdA is open for all community members as a collaboration between local Francophone organizations and the community at large. This is exemplified by the fact that many non-Francophones are key donors, patrons, and users of the facility. Since its opening in the spring of 2022, the building has noticeably increased community activity and tourist engagement, a welcome relief following pandemic lockdowns, and a further bolstering of Sudbury’s multi-decade downtown revitalization plan. From a technical point of view, the acoustics and theatre design have been lauded by theatre users, technicians, and performers alike.
Architectural expression
Architecturally, the upper volume of the building’s exterior is a sculptural, interlocking form, expressing the Franco-Ontarian duality, and boldly announcing PdA’s presence to the city. In contrast to this very outward expression, the design of the 1st-storey, streetscape, and interiors invites pedestrians into the facility with deliberate warmth and openness. With the use of rich, warm, and reclaimed historic materials throughout the public main floor, spaces are meant to attract visitors, like a hearth on a cold winter’s evening.
The exterior material selection of PdA is an expression of its location, demonstrating the passage of time and the history of the region. The rough masonry echoes the broken rock faces and textured mine shafts of the region. The oxidized stone outcroppings signalled the presence of ore deposits and the rusted old mine structures which dot the landscape live on in the patina of the weathered steel cladding. Progressive stages of the natural weathering process mean that the patina will be in a constant state of change—neither old nor new.
Sustainability considerations
On a limited budget and constrained urban site, the building's square footage was minimized by a rigorous process of optimizing the space needs of the seven arts organizations into a veritable Swiss watch of interconnecting functions. This reduced the overall building mass (and thus, embodied carbon footprint), while intensifying the social interaction of the seven organizations.
At every opportunity, recycled and historic materials were used, reducing embodied carbon, and providing a patina of cultural significance. Through extensive geotechnical and structural investigations, the team re-used most of the existing foundation of the hotel which previously occupied the site and repurposed the former hotel’s brick as an interior finish.
Operationally, through energy modelling and careful design, strategies were employed which resulted in reduced energy demand. These include:
Quotes
"The client-artists challenged the design team to forge an architectural framework equal to the artistic vision of the Francophone community of Grand Sudbury—now translated into an architecture that feels both contemporary and comfortable, with a familiarity as if it had always been there.” – Dr. Terrance Galvin, Founding Director, McEwan School of Architecture, Laurentian University.
“Some people go there for the architecture and come across the culture, and some people go there for the culture and come across the architecture. It creates interesting discussions about the cities we live in and what we want from the buildings that are built there.” - Susan Speigel, President, Ontario Association of Architects (OAA)
Conclusion
Place des Arts (PdA) is Northern Ontario's first multidisciplinary arts centre, serving as a hub of excellence for Franco-Canadian culture and community empowerment in Sudbury. The facility is a testament to the collaborative efforts of the design team of Moriyama Teshima Architects and Bélanger Salach Architecture (formerly: Yallowega Bélanger Salach Architecture), the client, and the surrounding community. Their joint leadership produced a versatile design that accommodates a wide range of activities and enhances the surrounding urban environment.
Fiche technique
Location: Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Client: Place des Arts
Size: 17,136 sqft
Project Team
MTA
Brian Rudy, Partner-in-Charge
Cathy McMahon, Project Manager
Louis Lortie, Sean Robbins, Maria Pavlou, Emmanuel Awuah, Sarah Xiaoyi Ni, Jason Philippe, Nick Gonsalves, Jason Corbin
BSA
Louis Bélanger, Amber Salach, Laura Teddy, Ted Matheson, Robert Andre, Tony Niro
Subconsultant Team
A2S Consulting Engineers, Structural Engineering
AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC Lavalin), Mechanical + Electrical Engineering
PMA Landscape Architect, Landscape
Colliers, Project Manager
KAIZEN Foodservice, Food Services Design
HEIN, General Contractor
Marshall & Murray Inc., Cost Consulting
Novita Techne Ltd., Acoustical Design
Paterson Group, Geotechnical
Project Completion Date: April 2022
Photographer: Tom Arban
