Located in a very dense urban environment (corner of Ste-Catherine and Guy streets), this 22-storey Concordia University building embodies the idea of a vertical campus by superimposing atriums in which spiral staircases and common spaces have been combined to encourage interaction. This translates into a 4-storey interior atrium on Ste-Catherine Street and 3 atriums on Guy and Mackay Streets. The building’s aesthetics are enhanced by an 8 m overhang above the mechanical room.
The site reused the existing armouring from a previous excavation for a project that was eventually abandoned and backfilled. The frame rests directly on footings on rock foundation. The distance between columns is 9 metres by 9 metres with a bidirectional slab including abacuses and capitals. Earthquake resistance is ensured by the central concrete core as well as by Pall bracing at the ends, dissipating energy by sliding and friction.
This project includes several cantilevers, the realisation of which involved introducing pre-stressing to minimize deflections. The penthouses on the roof are made of metal frames with a “cap” comprising a 6 m overhang that has become one of the main features of the building. On the ground floor, the entrance includes a 3-storey glass canopy supported by the building’s concrete columns, circular steel columns and columns hidden in the partitions.
For this project, NCK provided complete structural engineering consulting services in joint venture with another firm.
