Montréal launches a design Toolkit with the Government of Québec

The Ville de Montréal is launching a platform that provides digital awareness and planning tools to managers, promoters and design and architecture community professionals. The  Design Montréal Quality Toolkit provides a better understanding of how quality in design and architecture can be a lever for achieving green transition, inclusivity, public participation and innovation objectives. Structured […]

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The Ville de Montréal is launching a platform that provides digital awareness and planning tools to managers, promoters and design and architecture community professionals.

The  Design Montréal Quality Toolkit provides a better understanding of how quality in design and architecture can be a lever for achieving green transition, inclusivity, public participation and innovation objectives.

Structured around 12 concepts that define quality in design or architecture projects, it offers insights on how to state quality objectives and identify strategies to implement during the planning, conceptualization and execution phases of a project, to ensure those objectives are attained.

The decision-support tools in the Toolkit allow stakeholders to identify how their projects can contribute to enhancing the quality of Montrealers’ living environments. They include the Compass, a unifying tool that takes the form of a collaborative exercise, which project teams can use to define a common vision of quality and determine what measures to implement to achieve that quality. The Toolkit also comprises themed backgrounders, videos, publications and various resources.

“Design is truly at the heart of our lives,” says Mathieu Lacombe, Québec Minister of Culture and Communications, Minister Responsible for Youth, and Minister Responsible for the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Region and the Outaouais Region. “Design brings to life the countless objects, buildings and developments that shape our day-to-day. And it is through excellence in design that we are giving great cities like Montréal a signature, a lifestyle expression, and a human environment.” He continues: “This is why it is essential to lead the way on initiatives like the Design Montréal Quality Toolkit, which was developed thanks to the Agreement on the Cultural Development of Montréal between the City and the Government of Québec.”

Luc Rabouin, Montréal Executive Committee Member Responsible for Economic and Commercial Development, Knowledge, Innovation and Design says: “When it comes to transforming the built environment in our city, every action counts if we are to achieve our objectives of quality and exemplarity in design and architecture. We invite design and spatial-planning professionals as well as municipal decision-makers to use these tools to determine where and how we can enhance the quality of our living environment, to the benefit of our communities.”

An initial call for proposals titled Developing a Stronger Design Culture, Together 2021-2022 brought together organizations and firms in a collective effort to design tools and resources, which formed the basis of the Quality Toolkit: 

Mandated firms: 

• Studio Meilleur Monde, for the design of the Quality Toolkit Compass
• BC2 Groupe Conseil Inc., for writing of the Quality Toolkit themed backgrounders
• Principal, for the visual identity

Subsidized NPOs:

• The Association des architectes en pratique privée du Québec, for the video project Architectes en série, Season 2
• Architecture sans frontières Québec, for the project Design et architecture au service de la lutte à l’itinérance à Montréal (“Design and architecture to help combat homelessness”) 
• The Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec, for the project Design, savoirs et savoir-faire / valorisation de quinze intérieurs patrimoniaux (“Design, knowledge and know-how / Fifteen heritage interiors showcased”)
• Jeux Wasa, for the project Quartier Durable x Design Montréal
• The Université de Montréal UNESCO Chair in Urban Landscape, for the project nPlex projets locaux exemplaires (“nPlex: Exemplary local projects”)

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