At the heart of the Quartier des Gares, the 900 Saint-Jacques tower offers a contextually sensitive response to contemporary challenges of high-density urban living. 

Built on a site historically perceived as residual space at the edge of the downtown core, the 63-storey tower establishes a cohesive and liveable microcosm within an infrastructural landscape shaped by rail corridors and the Ville-Marie Expressway.

Approximately 700 rental residential units spread across 48 stories, a 12-story Moxy hotel, four levels of subterranean parking, and a number of common areas and facilities are all part of the mixed-use program. 

900 Saint-Jacques is a prime example of how vertical residential building may effectively engage with the city's past, contemporary infrastructure, and changing urban lifestyles as Montreal continues to navigate the junction of its built heritage, housing pressure, and ecological transformation.

Echoing the material grain of Old Montreal, Place Ville-Marie, the Sun Life Building, and Olympic Park, among others, the tower's mineral envelope reinterprets Montreal's architectural legacy. 

The tower, which stands out in a skyline dominated by glass, is made up of a series of sculpted precast concrete panels that resemble intertwined threads and cruciform patterns, symbolic of the city. 

The envelope's articulation gives the structure a sensation of lightness despite its size, and the façade's relief varies according to solar direction. 

Transparent volumes placed thoughtfully provide open spaces that highlight the building's social activities and strengthen its link to the outside world.

900 Saint-Jacques, the recipient of the 2025 Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence, is renowned for its technical skill and high caliber of architecture, especially for its creative use of precast concrete. 

The proposal proclaims a modern identity in conversation with Montreal's mineral material culture, in contrast to the city's preponderance of glass residential towers. 

A small number of prefabricated panel modules that are detailed to blur the lines between various façade features are repeated and reassembled to create the envelope. 

In contrast to the conventional language of concrete panel construction, the use of fake joints, open corner panels, and geometries that stretch beyond module bounds increases a sense of continuity throughout the surface, creating a textile-like expression.

Three separate layers make up the building's massing: a crowned tower, a planted podium, and a translucent base. Every tier has a matching green space and represents a distinct urban scale.

The Quartier des Gares PPU's greening goals are furthered at ground level by a highly transparent envelope that stimulates the public realm and supports a garden connected to the restaurant terrace and nearby bike infrastructure. 

A noticeable transition between the street and the tower above is created by the podium level's textured concrete panels and manicured terraces that form a suspended garden. 

Enormous façade apertures frame a rooftop green space at the peak, providing expansive vistas of Mount Royal and enhancing the building's vertical conversation with the topography of Montreal.

The architectural and programmatic approach of the project centers the residential concept around communal life. 

To encourage social interaction and promote a wide variety of everyday activities available to both residents and hotel guests, a substantial network of shared amenities is dispersed throughout the structure. 

The residential units are expanded by terraces, gardens, a restaurant, communal facilities, a shared kitchen, coworking spaces, and relaxing areas that provide a variety of daytime and evening activities. Redefining vertical living as a socially linked and experience-driven style of urban living is the goal of the expansion of private spaces.

The sustainability plan for the project takes social and environmental factors into account. When combined with sophisticated electromechanical systems, the high-performance envelope surpasses baseline efficiency requirements and conforms to LEED-style certification criteria. 

Water-saving techniques, high-efficiency lighting systems, locally sourced materials, and optimized window-to-wall ratios all work together to lessen the building's environmental impact. 

Notably, compared to a traditional glass façade, the precast concrete envelope improves winter energy performance by about 25%.

Socially, 900 Saint-Jacques places a high value on long-term livability and a variety of household kinds. 

A larger percentage of family-sized apartments are included in the residential mix, along with a sizable selection of three-bedroom apartments and flexible layouts that may be adjusted to meet changing demands. 

Inspired by the ideas of compact living, smaller apartments offer easier access to downtown housing, which is counterbalanced by the quantity and quality of integrated common areas.

Emblematic cross pattern diagram. Drawing © Chevalier Morales

Precast concrete panel model. Drawing © Chevalier Morales

Founded in 2005, Chevalier Morales is a Montreal-based architectural and design firm that works on both provincial and national levels. 

The company embraces a modern architectural concept that ensures a deep link to the surrounding setting while carrying social and environmental responsibilities.

Project facts

Project name: 900 Saint-Jacques

Architects: Chevalier Morales and Brian Elsden Burrows, Architect - Le Groupe Architex

Interior Design: DesignAgency, Hager Design

Location: Montréal, Québec

Client: Rimap Development

Completion: 2026

Engineering: NCK, BPA

All images © Maxime Brouillet.

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Chevalier Morales precast concrete tower