There’s something to be said about contemporary institutions and businesses that pay respect to the past. It’s something that made even more compelling when the past is steeped in rich tradition and heritage. This, we discovered, during a recent impromptu visit to Montreal, and a stay at the beautiful Le Westin hotel.
Housed in the former headquarters of The Montreal Gazette newspaper, the hotel took careful pains to acknowledge and honor the three heritage buildings they took over just a few years ago: the first Montreal Star building located on St-Jacques Street that dates back to 1899; its art deco-style extension designed in 1929; and the main Montreal Gazette building built in the 1950s. The buildings, situated among the cobblestone streets of Old Montréal, were once actively serving the presses of The Gazette, which rolled for more than 100 years. In addition to keeping the original elevator banks, many original window frames, and even an old Canada Post mailbox in the lobby, the hotel has accented its decor with work from Quebec and Canadian artists preserved from the original heritage buildings.
The modern accents are equally as stunning, with a glass bottom swimming pool that hovers high above the hotel’s indoor entranceway, a large-scale and textured painting that greets visitors as soon as they step inside (photo at left) and a massive art installation piece titled “Icicles,” that hangs precariously over the main lobby. Created by artist Kelvin Goddard from the “Unit 5″ art/metalworks studio in Toronto, the piece is made up of 50,000 pieces of individually hand-cut aluminum shards, hanging on 600 strings. This piece is 21 feet long and 13 feet wide and reportedly took workers more than five days to install.
We wanted to find out more about Le Westin’s novel design and its unique relationship with its building’s storied history, so we caught up with Robynne Moncur, the lead designer on the project.
Find out Moncur’s personal connection to the building and see more photos from Le Westin, after the jump…
