Steel: A History of Strength. A Future of Possibilities.

Canadian Institute of Steel Construction

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Cirque de Soleil International Headquarters

shading using the strength of steel

Click on the image to enlarge it.

  

Other pictures

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photos: Terri Meyer Boake
 

Some Key Numbers

Official inauguration: February 1997 (the Studio) and January 2001 (the Ateliers)
Total area of main buildings: 32,000 square metres
Area of grounds: 75,000 square metres
Total cost of realty project: CDN $60 million
Address: 8400, chosen to echo 1984, the year of Cirque du Soleil's creation

Contributors

Architects: Dan S. Hanganu (the Studio) and Éric Gauthier (the Ateliers)
Cirque du Soleil's International Headquarters (IHQ) in Montreal is the sole creation and production centre for all of the organization's projects. It is composed of two main sections: the Studio and the "Ateliers."

The IHQ is located in Montreal's Saint-Michel district, adjacent to the former Miron quarry and the Montreal waste sorting and disposal centre. Construction of the IHQ was part of a major urban development project, the Saint-Michel Environmental Complex, in which Cirque du Soleil represents the cultural pole. Also part of this complex are the École Nationale de Cirque and Tohu, Chapiteau des Arts (permanent bigtop).

The building feature addressed here is the use of an expressed, galvanized steel framing and shading system across the front facade of the building. The vertical members are comprised of round HSS tubes. The horizontals, simple WF sections. Bolted connections are used to express the attachment of the horizontal to the vertical.