Quartier des spectacles

Quartier des Spectacles (French pronunciation: [kaʁtje de spɛktakl]) is an arts and entertainment district located in the eastern section of Downtown Montreal, designed as a centre for Montreal's cultural events and festivals.

With a total area of almost one square kilometre, the Quartier is bounded by City Councillors Street to the West, Berri Street to the East, Sherbrooke Street to the North and René Lévesque Boulevard to the South, encompassing all of the district known as Montreal's Latin Quarter.

First proposed in 2002, the area is intended to house 30 performance halls totalling almost 28,000 seats (including the Place des Arts cultural complex), international festivals, art galleries and various cultural exhibition and broadcast facilities. The Quartier des spectacles hosts nearly 8,500 jobs linked to cultural activities, from education and creation to production, exhibition and broadcasting.

The area is now home to many of Montreal's major festivals, including the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Francofolies and the Just for Laughs comedy fest. Urban design features of the district include concert spaces, tiered green space and stonework, illuminated fountains, various forms of street lighting, mist machines, bike paths and illuminated walkways.

The central public space for the Quartier is the Place des Festivals [fr], a new urban square located on the "Balmoral Block" on Jeanne-Mance Street, facing Place des Arts. The latter has become a focal point for outdoor events. Features of the square include a water fountain with 235 in-ground jets, four light towers, two glass-encased restaurants, a grassy slope and granite walkways.

Édifice 2-22 [fr] is a cultural centre specializing in contemporary art. Its ticket office at the corner of Saint Catherine Street and Saint Laurent Boulevard was designed by French architect Paul Andreu.

The Maison du développement durable [fr], designed by Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes and adjacent to the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, was the second building in Canada to obtain the LEED Platinum sustainable building certification .

The district includes the Louis Bohème, a 28-storey condo tower designed also by Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux. The tower was approved despite objections from Montreal International Jazz Festival president Alain Simard.