Art & Architecture

This station’s theme is classical elegance, supplemented with a number of lovely works of art.

The materials are refined and sober. The walls of the underground levels are in uniform terra cotta blocks, recalling the neighbourhood’s brick buildings.¹ The floors are finished in granite in the headhouses and stoneware tiles below; the tiling is arranged in semicircular patterns and, on the platforms, striking sequences of circles and lozenges. The stone benches are carved with the logo of the borough of Saint-Laurent.

The two headhouses, located at either end of the station, are attractive buildings featuring design choices observed throughout the station, such as the use of oblique angles in the placement of doors and windows, and circular openings in the walls. Next to each headhouse is the detached lantern of a light shaft, built in a similar style.

The façade of the northern headhouse, previously entirely in exposed concrete, was reworked during the installation of the station’s elevators; it is now clad in slate-grey bricks and zinc plaques. Exposed concrete was retained inside, with the addition of white ceramic tiles, reminiscent of the Paris metro, in the elevator alcove.

The northern access descends to the platforms along a spiraling path. The staircases between the headhouse, the intermediate landing, and the ticket hall level are placed at oblique angles to one another and to the different floors, a subtle but distinctive architectural choice intended to space out passenger flows.¹ The angles between the staircases and walls also provide remarkable views onto the lower areas of the station. The overlook from the landing, underneath the light shaft, serves the additional function of allowing sunlight indirectly into the main volume of the ticket hall.

The northern ticket hall is a tall, impressive space, dominated by a sloping ceiling whose coffers repeat the shapes used in the platforms’ floor tiling, and above all by the station’s main standout feature, a huge Ionic column supporting the ceiling. The column, created by architect Gilles Bonetto, makes an apt allusion to classical literature and philosophy, recalling the presence of two major colleges (one of which is the station’s namesake) near this end of the station.

Like the staircases in the levels above, the platform staircases are bent at shallow angles, providing a unique appearance that also makes them more conspicuous to arriving passengers on the platforms, making orientation easier.¹ Fortuitously, the outward bend also created room to receive the elevator shafts years later.

Nevertheless, the geometry of the stairs and the ends of the ticket hall and platforms had to be modified considerably. In so doing, as the designers were unable to source the original bricks and tiles or recover enough to reuse, they opted to break entirely from them, using slate-grey bricks and floor tiles throughout the renovated area.² This stands out somewhat awkwardly from the original finishes, although no doubt less than an approximate match would have. (The original materials were able to be recovered and conserved on the wall above the staircase to the Côte-Vertu platform.)

The south ticket hall and red brick entrance building, which serve the Rue Cartier bus loop, are less spectacular but nevertheless impressive, with clean, attractive lines and a lofty, sunlit volume over the ticket hall.

Unlike the north access and those of other similar stations, this ticket hall is set at right angles to the tracks, rather than parallel to and above them; it is therefore linked to the platforms via an unusual transept, with a crossover running above the tunnel mouth and forming a balcony, and a single staircase to each platform. Indeed, the traveller follows a linear path from the entrance to the crossover, unlike the spiral path in the north access.

A noteworthy feature of the station is its profusion of stained glass; it is home to no fewer than five such works, all intentionally created using different techniques. The north headhouse is decorated with two stained-glass windows installed above the stairwell. The longer one, by Lyse Charland Favretti and titled L’éducation,³ depicts the two nearby colleges (Saint-Laurent and Vanier), surrounded by symbols of education and of the various scientific and cultural disciplines taught there.

The smaller one, signed Pierre Osterrath, links views of the station’s trademark column and walls (a rare case of an artwork depicting the station itself) with a map of the borough of Saint-Laurent and its symbols.

The landing between the two flights of escalators from the north entrance building to the ticket hall is decorated by two more stained-glass murals, abstract works by Pierre Osterrath, representing the plain on which Saint-Laurent was built, as well as its technical and industrial potential.

The south headhouse contains another beautiful, abstract stained-glass window by Lyse Charland Favretti, titled L’industrie;³ its streams of air represent Saint-Laurent’s aviation industry. Finally, high on the wall of the ticket hall below, a relief of terra cotta blocks by Aurelio Sandonato is illuminated by a skylight.

Its imposing and tasteful architecture and abundant artworks make Du Collège a must-see among metro stations.