Saint-Laurent Biodiversity Corridor
Saint-Laurent Biodiversity Corridor is a 20-year commitment and a unique and highly ambitious project. It will cover an area of approximately 450 hectares.
Its innovative vision was developed in 2018 by Biodiversité Conseil, civiliti, LAND Italia and Table Architecture—the firms that had teamed up and were selected as the winners in a national multidisciplinary landscape architecture competition. Together with Arrondissement de Saint-Laurent’s Division de l’environnement et de la protection du territoire, this team designed a corridor development master plan that was presented on May 22, 2019, in front of the Ateliers municipaux building—the location of the first phase of Saint-Laurent’s corridor.
The corridor will cover an area of approximately 450 hectares, passing through industrial, commercial and residential sectors. It will link the existing biodiversity hubs in Saint-Laurent, such as Boisé du parc Marcel-Laurin, Boisé Cavendish - Raymond-Lasnier - Beaulac - Poirier, the Bois-de-Liesse and Bois-de-Saraguay nature parks and Ruisseau Brook. The corridor will make it possible to restore their connectivity by means of developments that facilitate the movement of plant and animal life as well as people, of course.
This 180-page master plan combines landscape architecture, urban architecture, environment, biodiversity, ecology, culture, art and social development. Its originality and high quality have already earned it two prestigious awards: in February 2020, the National Urban Design Award—presented jointly by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects—and in May 2021, the Award of Excellence from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) in the Planning and Analysis category. It has also already attracted the attention of international specialists: it was presented in China in November 2019 at the 5th edition of the Wuhan Design Biennale.
This corridor will form a true green, blue and social infrastructure that will provide access to Saint-Laurent residents to enjoy and spend time with nature, in an initially very paved urban environment.
