Outdoor Stage for the Parc Philippe-Villeneuve

For its 350th anniversary, the City of Terrebonne commissioned Cardin Julien to design a new outdoor stage in the heart of the Parc Philippe-Villeneuve. The goal of the design team was not only to create a performance and creative space, but also to act as a gathering place year-round.

Due to its location within a sports-oriented park near a low-density residential neighbourdhood, the design put forward by Cardin Julien had to bridge several contextual elements. In collaboration with their landscape architecture partner, Projet Paysage, Cardin Julien developed four lines of circulation for users coming from different locations: the park, the library, the high school and the surrounding neighbourhood. This new installation structures, connects and enlivens both the park and its environment.

A year-round outdoor stage

An outdoor stage is essentially a plinth and a roof. In construction, its resembles the typology of a park pavilion. This reflection on both the stage and the pavilion made it possible to explore the concept of an installation inhabited through all seasons, at different times of day and by a wide variety of users. The concept of the park’s arrangement inspires a stage open on 360 degrees. Rather than an obstacle, the user enters an open and inviting structure. The generic rectangular form is segmented to orient the stage towards the audience and reinforce the alignment with the pedestrian movement on the site. The aluminium cladding, intended to offer texture without losing homogeneity, highlights the angles formed by the structure’s design. Beyond the contrast with the wood cladding on inside of the roof, the anodized aluminum sets the structure within its environment.