Mellem Grace Dart: Where Old Bones Meet Smart Design

Oct 14

4 min read

The transformation of a heritage site into a modern, open place to live. Brick retains its heat long after the sun has gone. If you walk past the former Grace Dart hospital on Sherbrooke Street in Montréal's Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood, right next to the Cadillac metro station, the building still gives off a certain atmosphere — even when it is empty and even after.

Mellem Grace Dart. Photography by Adrien Williams

Provencher_Roy has once again filled the building with people. The Mellem Grace Dart project is turning the former institution's 36-unit heritage wing into the anchor of a 299-unit rental complex, which was completed in 2025 on a site of about 24,500 square metres. The building is not preserved behind glass; instead, it is put back to use.

The majority of the expansion consists of 263 units, distributed among a variety of arrangements. Rather than competing with the original building, the new section wraps around it—making it a modern addition that reads as an extension rather than a contrast.

“The skillful contrast between the two eras is handled with finesse: past and present exist side by side to create a cohesive whole, where architectural identity unfolds in a respectful yet assertive continuity.” - Roch Cayouette, VP Private Practice, Senior Partner, and Architect at Provencher_Roy.

The entire process lasted five years, including the design phase, public consultation, technical planning and implementation. It began in 2019 with a rezoning procedure that the project team describes as equally rigorous and inspiring, and as necessary, since it had shown the site's potential after the Grace Dart Extended Care Centre moved out in 2016. The Commission Jacques-Viger examined the project at various stages and incorporated its recommendations into the design.

The result received praise from Montréal's Heritage Council for fulfilling the requests that residents and local organizations had made. The former institution, once strictly clinical, now offers accessible rental apartments, and its annex — the building that previously housed the nurses — now houses a small neighbourhood café.

Mellem Grace Dart. Photography by Adrien Williams
Mellem Grace Dart. Photography by Adrien Williams

The Grace Dart Institute is the main feature of the site, and densification takes place behind it: it is a long ribbon of six storeys, set back from the road, running east to west along the corners of the old building. Where height is found, width takes over, and the new building does not compete with the skyline.

The materials help establish that relationship; the modern masonry surrounds the new section and, because the textured brick picks up light differently depending on the time of day, it has a tonal conversation with the original brick in the neighbouring building.

On the heritage side, restoration kept what was important: the grand entrance on Sherbrooke Street, the structural brick facades and the wrought-iron metalwork. Although the windows were replaced, the original way of opening them was retained. Inside, the apartments carry on the old institutional layout of the building—with high ceiling heights and floor plans that do not resemble anything that would have been constructed from scratch.

KUB Paysage designed the landscape in a way more oriented toward memory than decoration; there are neither fences nor gates. The site serves as a quiet, green path for pedestrians throughout the entire neighbourhood, not simply for its residents. The presence of an orchard and a community garden suggests the area's previous agricultural use. The paving patterns on the ground follow the shape of a chimney from a boiler room which no longer exists.

Residents receive not just a courtyard but also an outdoor gym, broad lawns, and paths that wind rather than go in straight lines. A glass pavilion on top of the extended roof is reserved for residents, and it opens onto a shared terrace with a pool. When the weather is clear, the view stretches from downtown to Mount Royal, then out toward the Monteregian Hills and the Laurentians.

Mellem Grace Dart. Photography by Adrien Williams
Mellem Grace Dart. Photography by Adrien Williams

The decision to keep the heritage building was more than a design choice; it was based on circular-economy principles. A life-cycle assessment showed that preserving the existing structure reduced the environmental impact by 19% and limited construction waste. The building's energy performance exceeds the required governing standards by a large margin.

You won't see any of that in a photograph, since it's present anyway, in each wall that didn't have to be poured from scratch.

Mellem Grace Dart. Photography by Adrien Williams
Mellem Grace Dart. Photography by Adrien Williams

“Repurposing such a strong heritage building requires deep urban sensitivity. Our approach aimed to foster a dialogue between the site's memory and bold contemporary architecture, creating a vibrant destination that honours history while meeting the real needs of the community” - Catherine St-Marseille, Partner and Architect at Provencher_Roy.