Astral Media / Lemay Associés

Architects: Lemay Associés
Location: Montreal, Canada
Client: Astral Media
General Contractor: Patella inc.
Engineers: Planifitech Inc. (electro-mechanical engineering) and Nicolet Chartrand Knoll limitée (structural/civil engineering)
Project Area: 6,000 sqm
Photographs: Claude-Simon Langlois

In the spring of 2010, Astral Media relocated approximately 350 employees to four floors in the heart of the action in downtown Montreal. The goals of this large-scale project included elaborating new furniture standards, fitting up flexible meeting spaces and optimizing employee interconnectivity in a contemporary, energetic and versatile working environment.

Project Team: Louis T. Lemay, Partner in Charge; Sandra Neill, Associate Designer; Chantal Ladrie, Project Manager and Designer; Isabelle Matte, Designer; François Descôteaux, Designer; Caroline Lemay, Designer; Marie-Élaine Globensky, Graphic Designer, Véronique Richard, Industrial and Graphic Designer, Leonor Oshiro, Technician, Phary Louis-Jean, Technician

Based on the client’s four different business units (radio, television, advertising and digital media), our concept was inspired by key broadcasting industry words such as influence, communication, movement and exchange. The concept plays on the contrast between the medium and the message and manifests itself by means of undulating and pixelated graphic interventions.

The project’s main challenge consisted in guiding the client’s transition toward a youthful and modern image and accommodating a large number previously dispersed employees in a single open and standardized space.

Aside from workstations, we fitted up a main reception area, various meeting spaces (conference and meeting rooms, agora, etc.) as well as common services (dining room, lounge, café, copy centre) on each floor. In order to create a rhythm and a gradation throughout the playful 6,000 m² space, each floor was identified with its own colour and the levels were linked by a central glass staircase.

Astral Media’s new flexible, functional and bright premises provide a human working experience and favor communication between employees.

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