The building was designed by architects from the ACDF studio. The LINK building is a residential high-rise with 19 floors. Its characteristic parts are the geometric openings in the façade and the basement, which reminds us of the historical buildings in this part of the city.
The building was constructed in the Shaughnessy Village district. This is one of Montreal’s most densely populated neighbourhoods, which developed intensively in the 1960s and 1970s. It was at this time that high-rise residential buildings began to be built adjacent to historic Victorian villas. Years ago, some of these were demolished, but the fate of the buildings on the plot occupied by the LINK high-rise was different.
The residential high-rise was built on Little Lincoln Street. In the middle of the street, there are only three old buildings that bear witness to the Victorian past. The houses were in a terrible state of repair. The developer planned to demolish them, but the architects at ACDF proposed a different solution. They decided to renovate the front part of the buildings to restore the facades to their former glory.
The fronts of the buildings now serve as entrance areas to the tower, which has been set back from the façade. The front of the high-rise building has been given symmetrically distributed openings of various shapes, which are a contemporary interpretation of the dormers and are a kind of architectural tableau, enlivening the appearance of the building.
Each window is almost as wide as the rooms (bedrooms or living rooms). Some of them have balconies. The site is attractive to students because there are four university campuses nearby. The architects admit that the designed rooms are not large, but point to the advantages: it is an optimal space for students, and the cost of renting such a space is lower.
A total of 122 studio flats have been created in the building, with one, two or three bedrooms. The LINK also has a roof terrace, a gym and communal spaces.
photos: Adrien Williams, source: v2com
design: ACDF Architecture
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