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Built in tunnel except for the single kiosk, this station has a clear and sober decorating scheme in brown brick, moulded into the curve of the benches along the walls.
The wall cladding at platform level includes the station's one medium of decorative art: the seams of moulded aluminum, decorated with extruded cubical and rectangular shapes. These dark grey seams give a contemporary feeling to the walls and break up the expanses of brown brick.
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The bridge over the tracks has thick, solid ramparts and is topped with a high vault in the ceiling. It leads to the stairwell, with its recessed wall lights and dramatic ceiling light fixtures lending a space age feel. This in turn ends in the concrete-and-steel kiosk, added during Réno-Métro in 1999-2000 in a newly redesigned public square, with one wing jutting out to exit into the open-air market.
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Unfortunately, this attractive decor hides some dangerous design flaws. First, the station has no ventilation; the nearest ventilation post is 500 metres to the north. This leaves the station without any means to relieve the drastic changes in air pressure caused by the train's 'piston effect.' The only way for the pressure differential to be relieved is via the comparatively narrow stairwell to the kiosk. This can make the station doors almost impossible and even dangerous to open. More than one elderly, small, or frail passenger has been knocked over by the wind.
The Réno-Métro renovations in 1999-2000 did little to resolve this situation. Furthermore, in an attempt to treat the problem of strong air currents through the ticket hall, the booth and turnstiles were moved out of the kiosk, down to the cramped area at the foot of the stairs in front of the bridge over the tracks, leading to persistent crowding problems. The renovation architect was reported to have been completely unaware of and shocked by the heavy traffic at this station.
Space is so inadequate that an experimental new gate was added. The ticket taker can open it from inside the booth, allowing faster exits when the crowd gets dense.
Sadly, these problems take some of the lustre off of the station's smart decor.
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