The student house, i.e. the student center, was designed by Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux, the creators of many notable Montreal buildings. The architects looked to the industrial past of the Griffintown area, where the ÉTS campus is located: the building's crystal shape and transparency are a nod to the site's ice storage. The expressive form is designed to counterbalance the rest of the utilitarian campus buildings and give the new building a recognizable look. Its façades feature an abstract design depicting a “web of ideas” - a metaphor for ÉTS's innovativeness.
The main entrance opens up to an atrium space and views of the impressive console staircase, which serves as an informal meeting place and offers views of the cityscape. The interior of the atrium follows the concept of an indoor park: a winding "path" leads to the upper floors, and the ceiling trimmed with birch is, in fact, a parametric landscape. He is echoed by "corners" - bright niches for relaxation arranged in the walls. The student center serves as a bridge between the residential part of the campus and the main building of ÉTS: the project provides for an underground passage to the educational building and an overground passage to the residential one.
Students will be able to find everything they need in the House: catering establishments, places for recreation, collaboration such as coworking and meetings, laboratories and student clubs. But since the new building also plays a key role in the regeneration of the area, its main space - the atrium - is open to local residents. In addition, the building directly affects the environment: on the continuation of the site, a compact park is provided, as if growing out of its volume. And the street facing the atrium was proposed to be made pedestrian.
The student center cost C $ 40 million to build and was funded in part by an investor with commercial space on the ground floor, which also increased the diversity of the urban environment. Parking is available on the underground levels. The project claims a LEED silver certificate: the building uses technologies to reduce water and energy consumption, uses highly reflective materials, and has a green atrium roof.
