Inaugurated in the fall of 2024, Parc des Gorilles is the product of an extraordinary citizen movement that Jane Jacobs would undoubtedly have supported. The design of this new urban space is highly unconventional: a diagonal strip of land cutting through the backyards of former industrial buildings. A brief historical overview helps explain the site’s unique layout.

Between the 1940s and 1980s, numerous railway lines were constructed across Montreal to serve industrial needs, including the former munitions factory adjacent to Parc des Gorilles. In the early 1990s, Canadian Pacific Railway removed the tracks running through the area.

Without the presence of rail activity, wildlife quickly reclaimed the vacant land. Over the years, a spontaneous landscape took shape. It even became home to several homeless individuals, some of whom created small vegetable gardens. The site, dense and jungle-like in the summer, came to be affectionately known by locals as Parc des Gorilles. Gorilla Park. The name stuck.

In 2013, a new owner cleared the dense vegetation, causing growing concern among local citizens about the future of this brownfield. Three years later, the AmiEs du Parc des Gorilles (Friends of Gorilla Park) became an official non-profit organization, continuing their efforts until the city expropriated the site in 2017 and designated it as a future park. The group maintained its advocacy until the City of Montreal officially recognized them as community representatives on a monitoring committee, allowing them to actively participate in the co-design process and ensure their concerns were addressed.

In 2019, our firm, Civiliti, was brought in to co-design the park, collaborating with FNX-Innov, Nadeau Urban Forestry, Biodiversité Conseil, and the citizen group. The goals were to restore the site’s ecosystems, minimize the mineralized zones, and create a vibrant social space for the community within a sustainable landscape. The vegetation selection reflected the site’s recent history while highlighting the park’s future use (including collective gardens and fruit trees).

The project’s ecological goals included the introduction of micro-forests, with over 1,000 plants, including 500 new trees. A bioretention basin manages runoff from the entire park and from Waverly Street to the west. The topography was slightly altered to meet municipal runoff management requirements. Along Waverly Street’s right-of-way, an urban garden, lined with small outdoor lounges, will be added in a future phase of the park’s development.

The central area features a partially covered agora, equipped with gardening facilities and technical equipment. Positioned near the southern Beaubien street boundary, this four-season outdoor gathering space is ideal for small concerts and various celebrations. The materials chosen—primarily wood and Corten steel—evoke the industrial past while requiring minimal maintenance.

Opposite the covered area, a terrace extends over a “rain garden,” with a design that mirrors the sawtooth roofline of the former munitions factory. Further along the diagonal path, the area’s industrial history is commemorated through distinct “markers,” including a “lost railway car,” used for socializing or local educational purposes. Along the park’s northern edge, a small platform was constructed among existing trees for quieter, more meditative activities as well as wood footbridge that crosses small depression and a patch of existing trees.

Located just a short distance from the University of Montreal’s new MIL Campus, Parc des Gorilles is part of the City of Montreal’s broader urban consolidation efforts to support and revitalize the neighborhoods surrounding the campus through the creation of public spaces, parks, and an enhanced public realm.

• Other credits:

FNX-Innov (Engineering)
Nadeau Foresterie Urbaine (Forest Engineering)
Biodiversité Conseil (Biology and Ecology)
EXP (Construction Site Supervision)

Convercité (Public Consultations)
L’Arpent (Co-design process)
AmiEs du parc des Gorilles (Local Community Representatives)
Arrondissement Rosemont – La Petite-Patrie

Client : Ville de Montréal, Service de l’urbanisme et de la mobilité

Photo captions and credits:

• Aerial Overview of Parc des Gorilles Looking North – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• Context Map and Historical Aerial Photograph
• Selected Ambiances and Program Plan (Result of Citizen Co-Design Workshop)
• Site Plan
• Landscape Environments, Water Management and Identity Landmarks Diagrams
• Aerial Detail of the Central Agora (Shelter, Sawtooth Terrace and Rain Garden) – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• View of Path and Micro Forest from Beaubien Entrance – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• Detail of Micro Forest – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• Micro Forest Planting Strategy and Plant Communities
• Aerial View of Central Agora – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• View from Rain Garden toward Sawtooth Terrace and Shelter – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• View of Shelter – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• Technical Sections of the Shelter
• View of the Lost Railway Car Looking North – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• View of the Lost Railway Car Looking South – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• Section and Planting Plan of the Lost Railway Car Environment
• View of Meditation Platform – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• Technical Plan and Section of the Meditation Platform
• View of North Footbridge – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• Technical Plan and Section of North Footbridge
• Aerial View of Parc des Gorilles Looking South – photo credit: Adrien Williams
• Musical Show during Park’s Inauguration – photo credit : civiliti
• Danse Activity during Park’s Inauguration – photo credit : civiliti
• Community Planting Activity – photo credit : civiliti

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