Place des Montréalaises is redefining Montreal’s civic and tourist heart by covering a sunken expressway with a vibrant esplanade. Designed by Lemay in collaboration with artist Angela Silver and the engineering team at AtkinsRéalis, this major project connects Old Montreal to downtown and, above all, inscribes the memory of exceptional women in the urban landscape.

Since its inauguration in spring 2025, Place des Montréalaises has rapidly become a cherished destination for local residents and tourists who circulate, gather and linger there at the heart of a flourishing legacy. With its strong architectural signature, the plaza now stands as a new symbolic site in Montréal, and an enduring symbol of a living memory.

Winner of an international multidisciplinary landscape architecture competition launched by the City of Montreal in 2017, this concept harnesses the full potential of an architectural approach through stratification, transforming an urban scar into a multifunctional plaza that is simultaneously an inclusive memorial space, a universally accessible pathway and a contribution to urban biodiversity.

In Montréal, as in many major cities, women often remain largely underrepresented in their cities’ historic history. Place des Montréalaises stands as an architectural response to this historical imbalance. On land offered by the City of Montreal, the large plaza honors 21 women selected by the Conseil des Montréalaises. The Council of Montréal Women acts as an advisory body at the request of the municipal council of the City of Montréal.

The plaza thus pays tribute to the 14 victims of the 1989 École Polytechnique femicide, when a male school shooter targeted female staff and students that included Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, and Annie Turcotte.

It also honors seven Montreal pioneers: Myra Cree, Jessie Maxwell-Smith, Agnès Vautier, Ida Roth Steinberg, Idola Saint-Jean, Harriet Brooks and Jeanne Mance.

The design concept amplifies the reach of this gesture by creating a strong connection with two other figures – the new plaza engages with the large stained-glass panels of artist Marcelle Ferron’s La verrière, which adorn three facades of the adjacent Champ-de-Mars Orange line metro station, as well as with Place Marie-Josèphe-Angélique, redesigned in 2025 as part of the project.

The floating inclined plane at the heart of the site constitutes the defining gesture anchoring the concept. It hosts a vast flowering meadow where 21 plant species are gathered in 86 planting clusters that evolve through the seasons, a concept honoring these 21 exceptional Montreal women while also enhancing the area’s ecological qualities.

A cylindrical mirror rises near the metro entrance. Inscribed across its entire surface are the names of the women being honored, with letters that fragment across the landscape and disperse from the mirror to the neighboring staircase. Passersby are invited to rearrange these letters to compose infinite variations of women’s names, ensuring they are never forgotten.

The staircase provides access to the flowering meadow while inviting contemplation. The animation of the plaza, where programmed and spontaneous artistic performances, public gatherings and cultural events have followed one another since its inauguration, is a testament to the community’s enthusiastic embrace of the site.