Montreal's city football stadium is located in the Saint-Michel eco-complex, a place with a complex history. Until the late 1970s, the Miron company mined limestone there, and in 1988 the city set up a landfill there - one of the largest in North America. But the authorities stopped in time, and in the near future there will be an eco-park with an area of almost 200 hectares, and the territory of Saint-Michel will be "restored". The organic waste beneath the surface of the future park releases methane, which is collected by a pipe system running through it: this gas is used as fuel for a purpose-built 25 megawatt power plant.
The architects responded to the complex, man-made topography of the site and its “geological” past. Their stadium is covered with a roof of complex shape, reminiscent of a rock outcropping. It also "hugs" the open field adjacent to the building and serves as a portal leading to the sports complex. The effectiveness of this gesture is a response to the huge scale of the surrounding area. The lattice roof structure is made of cross-laminated timber, 90% of the wood used is black spruce. The architects from Saucier + Perrotte were assisted by Nordic Structures in the work on the wooden part of the building.
The shaft that existed along Papino Avenue was included in the project: this made it possible to preserve the trees that grew there. Walking paths were laid along its ridge; the shaft is cut through the glazed blocks that provide sunlight to the stadium premises behind it. The largest block contains the main entrance.
