Architects have been chosen to design the two major buildings planned for Concordia’s downtown campus. They are Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects / Fichten Soiferman Architectes in joint venture, in collaboration with Stéphane Tremblay / Daniel Arbour & Associés.

Their concept is just the beginning of the architectural process; it is expected that many refinements and changes will be made before construction begins.
The architects conceive of the project as an integrated one, but with each building having its own character.

The two large buildings will sweep along either side of Guy St., each with a dramatic copper chapeau on the top. The effect will be to transform a city block that has been distinguished until now only by long lines of people waiting for the bus. There will probably be gateways at either end of this block to identify Concordia’s urban campus, and there will be an elongated canopy on Guy St. for bus users.

The John Molson School of Business is seen as a “a secretariat-type building, sleek and corporate in character,” while the building housing Engineering and Computer Science and the visual arts is seen as “a more dynamic vertical form,” with atria, or open areas, that connect departments and provide a variety of elevations.

A tunnel just south of de Maisonneuve Blvd. will connect the two new buildings. Another tunnel will run under Mackay St. about halfway between de Maisonneuve and St. Catherine St. to connect the new engineering/fine arts building to the existing J.W. McConnell library complex. A tunnel now connects the Hall and McConnell buildings.