Montreal-baed Lemay has completed a redesign of the city’s Théâtre de Verdure. The original 1956 development has been enhanced with what the firm calls a “4-season concept that redefines the relationship between theatre and park, architecture and landscape, and the built and the natural.”

The redesign sought to make the outdoor theater’s presence felt throughout the adjacent La Fontaine Park, maximizing views of both the stage and surrounding greenspace. Designed to address both visitors and passers-by, the form “invites discovery, both inside and outside the site” with a “new green, modern, and lively public space that offers a vibrant place for lovers of arts and culture to witness unforgettable moments.”

"Throughout the project, we were keen to reaffirm the theatre's heritage identity, and we took care to develop new interventions compatible with the memory of the site," explained Marie-Ève Parent, Associate and Discipline Director in Landscape Architecture at Lemay.

The space can accommodate up to 2,500 spectators, accessed by new entrances via an extended pedestrian path around the park’s water basin. Meanwhile, low vegetative cover and a preservation of the canopy establish new views to make the theater “pop within the site, rather than shield it from view.”

The theater is one of several recently completed projects to feature in our editorial. Last week, Zaha Hadid Architects completed an arching bridge across China’s Jiangxi River, while robots helped assemble a new domed timber pavilion in Freiburg, Germany. Earlier in August, Aaron Neubert Architects completed a Los Angeles hillside residence defined by a vertical ‘T’ window while Rocco Design Architects completed a tower in Shenzhen featuring a seven-level internal courtyard.