EXPO' 67, MONTREAL
HABITAT 67
AN
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the many architectural pheno-
mena to be seen at Expo 67, the most unusual and the one most likely to influence future design thought, particularly in the field of urban housing development, is a unique project known as Habitat 67.
Sited along Montreal's St. Lawrence River waterfront, this 12-storey high scheme comprises 354 precast con- crete boxes, apparently stacked at random, to form 158 housing units.
The houses vary in size from a one- bedroom 600 sq. ft. dwelling to a large four-bedroom 1,700 sq. ft. house. There are 15 house types, the majority of which are two, three and four bedrooms. Covered parking is provided for all tenants, as well as ample, visitor parking. The project in- corporates a commercial content of shops and offices, and parks and playgrounds surround the develop-
ment.
There are two networks of ground circulation: a service road system which connects all service areas and parking facilities, and a pedestrian network one level above which con- nects all parts of the project through walkways, bridges, and plazas. pedestrian and vehicular networks are completely separated and at no time is it necessary for a pedestrian to cross the service roads.
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34
The
Vertical circulation is through three
MOSHE SAFDIE & DAVID, BAROTT, BOULVA
DR. A. E. KOMENDANT
associated architects
structural consultant
MONTI LEFEBVRE LAVOIE NADON & ASSOCIATES structural engineers
HUZA-THIBAULT, AND NICHOLAS FODOR & ASSOCIATES
mechanical and electrical engineers
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS LTD. development consultants
ANGLIN-NORCROSS QUEBEC LTD.
vertical cores. Elevators stop every four floors, serving horizontal pede- strian streets. Access to the houses is directly off these pedestrian streets, sometimes being one level above or one level below the main pedestrian walkway. The horizontal pedestrian streets are continuous throughout the project so that tenants can move hori- zontally through the project at several levels.
There are playgrounds along the streets for younger children. These are located at the 5th floor and 9th floor levels, and may be used by children not old enough to go inde- pendently to the parks on the ground.
Since many of the houses are two storeys high, no housing unit is more than one flight above or below the street. The pedestrian street is shel- tered with a plastic cover which pro- tects it from wind and snow. In addi- tion, critical areas have automatic snow-melting devices. The pedestrian
main contractor
streets are provided with planting and sitting areas.
Construction System
The construction system consists of the precasting of large three-dimen- sional modular units. These box-like elements measure 17 ft. 6 in. x 38 ft. 6 in. x 10 ft. high. They were precast in steel moulds (5,000 lb. concrete) and steam cured.
Following the casting. these modular units were taken to a finish- ing area where all components, fix- tures, and finishes were installed in an assembly-line method. Kitchens. bathrooms, window frames, insula- tion, etc. were all installed into the box unit, which was then ready for building. The finished unit was brought to the site and lifted into position by crane. The weight of the boxes varied from 70 to 90 tons at the time of lifting.
Far East Architect & Builder June, 1967