Pre-eminent architects combine their talent to redevelop the McGill University Health Centre for the 21st century

November 21, 2006

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) announced today that its Board of Directors had approved the selection of the Master Architect, a consortium of pre-eminent Quebec and international architects, for its Redevelopment Project on the Glen and Mountain campuses.

This consortium includes Les architectes Lemay et associés, Jodoin Lamarre Pratte et associés architectes, André Ibghy Architectes and Menkès Shooner Dagenais Letourneux. In addition, the firms of Moshe Safdie & Associates and Perkins+Will will bring invaluable international expertise to the team, which has a combined total of more than one hundred years of experience in major projects.

"This is a great day for the entire MUHC community," stated Dr. Arthur T. Porter, MUHC Director General and CEO. "The past successes of these architects and the goals they set when submitting their bid totally mesh with our commitment to excellence in health care, research and teaching. This team has the necessary leadership, vision and management skills to design our Mountain and Glen Campus facilities to the very highest standards."

"To help the MUHC achieve its ambitious goals, the team will create two campuses of outstanding quality and functionality," stated Louis T. Lemay, Senior Architect and President of Les architectes Lemay et associés. "The facilities will be ahead of the latest trends and developments in health care and integrated within their built and natural environments."

The consortium's four principal partners and international experts have an outstanding record in planning and developing state-of-the-art health care, research and academic institutions in urban environments, both here in Quebec and around the world. They have a vast knowledge of the MUHC and its needs. In preparing their bid, they visited more than 60 university hospitals in Asia, Europe, South America and the United States, notably to measure design strengths and weaknesses against the institutions' functional and technical programmes. This global knowledge will be a major asset in the design of the MUHC Redevelopment Project.

"I am thrilled to be associated with the MUHC and have another opportunity to design an important facility for Montreal," stated Moshe Safdie, Senior Architect, Moshe Safdie & Associates. "Its founding hospitals are intimately connected to the city's heritage and skyline. Now, for the 21st century, we have the opportunity to break new ground in health care architecture and create a model of a humane and vibrant place for the community."

"This is a unique opportunity to reinvent the health science centre of the future with a campus that promotes and supports the integration and synergy between patient caregivers, researchers and educators while exhibiting the joy and inspiration of discovery and successful medical results," stated Jean Mah, Senior Architect, Perkins+Will. "We are honoured to be part of the team working with the MUHC to create a 100-year campus."

Some of the consortium's projects include: École Polytechnique de Montréal (Gold LEED-accredited), 1000 de la Gauchetière, the Bell Centre, Centre hospitalier Pierre-LeGardeur, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Sherbrooke, Cité de la santé Laval and Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital's Cancer Centre.

Some of Moshe Safdie & Associates' Canadian projects include: Habitat 67, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (most recent pavilion) the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée de la civilisation (Quebec City), Pearson International Airport (rebuild) and Library Square (Vancouver).

Some of Perkins+Will's projects include: Mayo Clinic (Jacksonville), Johns Hopkins Hospital, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, UCLA Health Sciences Center, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Providence Legacy (Vancouver).

"This project has been a long time coming and I, for one, cannot wait to see cement being poured," stated David Culver, Chairman, MUHC Board of Directors. "The project will provide our patients with the safe, healing environment they deserve, and it will also serve as a major economic driver for the City of Montreal and all of Quebec."

The call for tender process for the Master Architect involved three bids. A selection committee analyzed a number of quantitative and qualitative criteria and retained two bids. The final selection was based on the overall quality of the bid. The process for choosing the Project Manager and Master Engineers is still ongoing and selections will be announced in the near future. The MUHC has registered the Redevelopment Project with the Canada Green Building Council and is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)—a benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings—certification for the Mountain and Glen campuses.

About the MUHC Redevelopment Project
Guided by its mission and its role as the nerve centre of the McGill integrated university hospital network, the MUHC is carrying out a $1.579-billion Redevelopment Project that will help the government achieve its vision for academic medicine in Quebec. Excellence in patient care, research, education and technology assessment will be fostered on two state-of-the-art campuses—the Mountain and the Glen—and through strong relationships with health care partners. Each LEED-registered campus will be designed to provide patients and their families with "The Best Care For Life" in a healing environment that is anchored in best sustainable development practices, including BOMA Go Green guidelines.
www.muhc.ca/construction

About the MUHC
The MUHC is a comprehensive academic health institution with an international reputation for excellence in clinical programmes, research, teaching and technology evaluation. The MUHC is a merger of five teaching hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University: the Montreal Children's, Montreal General, Royal Victoria, and Montreal Neurological hospitals, and the Montreal Chest Institute. Building on the tradition of medical leadership of the founding hospitals, the goal of the MUHC is to provide patient care based on the most advanced knowledge in the health care field and to contribute to the development of new knowledge.
www.muhc.ca

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